Off Autopilot
by BeneathAWesternSky
Summary: Following the destruction of Starkiller Base, Rey and Poe Dameron meet. The two are drawn together, and navigate a budding romance in the Resistance. But Rey must come to terms with who she is, and Kylo Ren, who has orders to retrieve her for Snoke, will not rest until she realizes their compatibility. [Classic love triangle] [Includes Damerey and Reylo. Mature content.]
1. Chapter 1

**Off Autopilot**

 **AN: To start, I am not caught up on what fics are out there for the Damerey shippers or the Reylo shippers. I anticipate there will be some similarities between my story and other people's stories, and this is purely coincidental. No disrespect or idea-stealing intended! I have just been thinking that though Poe and Rey don't meet in the film, it would be fun to explore how it would go down when they did. I have not gotten around to reading the novelization of the film, because Grown Up Responsibilities™ get in the way sometimes, so if there are irregularities, please forgive that. This is definitely a long-haul story. If you're into the prequel era stuff, I've got another fic going right now, which I fully intend to tie to this bad boy here. They can be read alone or together though. Cheers!**

* * *

Chapter One

His hand was warm in hers. Warm, but unmoving. She had squeezed it, hoping to feel some kind of reflex. For hours she'd sat like that. Stoically, Rey sat her vigil by Finn's side. When the sun had set, either from exhaustion or from sorrow, Rey finally shed a few tears, her forehead pressed to Finn's shoulder.

Others had been in the medical ward the whole evening. Fighter pilots had their wounds tended to. Chewie had been in to monitor his healing. Save for the doctors tending to Finn, everyone stayed well enough away from Rey. She was a relative unknown entity amongst the Resistance. Within hours, rumors about her had sprung up like wildfire amidst their celebrating. No one quite got the full story. Bits were correct, here and there, but for the most part, no one but Rey and Finn knew what had happened in that forest. Rey had hoped that most of the fighters would be too high off their enormous battle victory that she wouldn't be asked any questions.

Rey didn't know how, but she suspected that General Organa knew something of what had happened there. She was, after all, connected to her in some way. Through the Force, Rey assumed. And still, the Force was such a big thing, with such strong implications, that she found herself pushing it to the back of her mind, and focusing on Finn, ignoring the sideways glances and the whispers of Resistance fighters. They meant well—they were only curious. But still, it made the pit in her stomach grow.

Jolted from her thoughts, she heard a voice behind her.

"He's going to be fine." It was a woman speaking.

Rey sat up quickly, and tried to brush her tears away inconspicuously. She turned to face the tall woman with short brown hair. Her face was kind, and told Rey that she believed she was right.

"But he's…" Rey looked back at Finn. Unconscious. Heavily medicated.

"Yes, he will be out for a time, but we are a bit limited without a bacta tank."

Bacta tanks could speed healing exponentially, but were heavy. Not exactly easy equipment to transport from base to base, as the Resistance had need to do.

"Can he be brought to one?" Rey sounded hopeful.

"We will see how he does. When he wakes up, we may be able to, but I won't sign off on him being moved any time soon." The woman smiled. She admired the girl's devotion to her friend. "You should rest. Fatigue is one of a Resistance fighter's worst enemies."

 _Fighter_. Rey had not thought of herself as such ever in her life. She felt more like a survivor. She had to be one, as a scavenger. She had fought Kylo Ren, sure, and others before, but did this mean she was a part of the Resistance now? She shook the thought from her mind.

"I want to be here when he wakes up," she could practically hear the exhaustion in her voice, if she was completely honest with herself.

"He won't be up before you, if that's what your concern is. If he does wake up before dawn, I will personally tell you first. But you need to eat. And sleep. There are empty cots in one of the far hangars. Go. He'll be fine in my care."

Reluctantly, Rey stood. She let go of Finn's hand, and leaned down to kiss Finn's forehead. Unbeknownst to her, from across the med wing, the Resistance's best pilot watched her with intense curiosity.

* * *

Rey sat alone at a small table, eating the food that had been prepared for the droves of Resistance fighters. Mechanics, pilots, technicians—everyone had a purpose in the Resistance. If you had no special skills of which to speak, you still pulled your weight in some way. Pushing a broom, carrying spare parts. So, sitting there with food in front of her, she felt that she hadn't earned the right to be there. She felt like an interloper.

Still, hot food was hot food. Eagerly she settled into her meal. It couldn't have been the best food in the world by the standards of many, but to Rey, it was. Compared to the rations on Jakku, which provided only the basic nutrients a human body needs to function, the modest stew and bread was heaven. Taking a break from her food, Rey reached for the steaming cup of black liquid that the cook had given to her with her meal. Bringing it to her nose she inhaled its aroma, unsure of whether or not she'd like it. Dark, earthy. She'd never had anything like this on Jakku.

Pushing aside her apprehension, Rey took a slow sip, taking stock of what she thought of the drink.

"I wouldn't drink that this late if I were you," a voice came from beside her. When she turned, she saw a moderately tall man with shaggy brown hair staring at her, standing only a few feet away.

Rey looked back at the cup.

"Caf," he said. "Coffee. It will keep you up half the night. The cook makes it with every meal, for those of us who pull nightly duties. So if you're hoping to sleep, I wouldn't go in for it."

Rey considered this, setting the cup down after she decided she had no desire to stay awake any longer than she had to.

"Thanks," she said simply. She cleared her throat, and took to staring at her stew, which she stirred mindlessly with her spoon.

"I'm Poe," the pilot said, still clad in his orange flight suit. He sat down next to Rey, uninvited. Rey looked up, surprised. This was the Poe Dameron that Finn had helped.

"Poe Dameron? The X-wing fighter? But you were lost in the sinking fields on Jakku. Finn said you were gone," Rey's eyes bore into Poe's in confusion.

"Yeah, I got thrown from the TIE fighter. Woke up in the dark. Managed to get back to the base though."

Rey was silent. She had no idea what to say to this man.

"Thank you," Poe said, his voice full of sincerity. "For sticking with BB-8. For helping get him to the Resistance."

"Oh, it… anyone would have done it."

"No," Poe added with a chuckle. "They wouldn't have. But you and Finn, who had no obligation to help. You did anyway."

Rey thought of what she'd done. How she'd surprised herself the past few days. Everything seemed to have clicked into place, like she knew she was doing the right thing. Like she was meant to help. But still, she felt that she had not done enough. Finn was wounded. And Han Solo. She failed him too.

Rey again felt eyes on her. She noticed that pilots and mechanics, all eating their food in their tight clusters at separate tables, had bowed their heads intermittently in quiet discussion. When she turned to them, they reverted to their friendly banter. With a sigh, Rey returned to eating her stew. Noticing this, Poe paused for a moment, and stood without a word.

Coming back with a bowl of his own stew, Poe sat down in front of Rey, which spurred more hushed talk.

"I don't think anyone here likes me very much," Rey rested her hand on her cheek, which she felt grow hot.

"They just don't know what to think of you, is all."

"I'm sure that's not all," Rey said.

"Well what they think doesn't matter. You helped us destroy Starkiller Base. We couldn't have done it without you, Finn and… General Solo."

"General…" Rey mulled over this word. "I keep forgetting that he was a part of the Rebellion. He's got… he _had_ more of a reputation on Jakku as the galaxy's best smuggler." She felt a pull at her heart as she thought of Han, the gruff but caring scoundrel.

She sighed. "That's why they're looking at me like that," she said, suddenly realizing that they probably had such high respect for Han. They probably blamed her for his death.

Poe stopped eating. "They're a rough bunch. We all respected the General. But I don't think they really blame you."

"They'd be wrong to," Rey felt her voice raise an octave. "I'm not the one who ran a lightsaber through him. It was that _monster_." Rey stood abruptly, no longer able to finish the food in front of her, and marched towards the hangar with the sleeping cots. She couldn't bring back Han. She couldn't fix Finn. But she could maybe sleep, and at least forget it all for a few hours.

* * *

The cot that Rey had settled on was in a far corner of the hangar, away from any other occupied cots. She had slipped off her boots, but was still clad in her sandy and grimy clothes. She didn't care. The hangar was dark enough that she could sleep, but light enough that she could make out those around her. Turning to face a wall, Rey closed her eyes and listened to the distant sounds of the Resistance base. Voices and the sound of machinery. In a strange way, it calmed her and she was able to doze for a few much-needed hours.

In her dreams that night she saw the ocean. The island that Kylo Ren had taunted her with. The image that came to her so often in her sleep was a cherished thought, almost like a memory. She'd felt violated by the intrusion. She dreamed too about Luke's lightsaber. The fight in the forest. She had felt something flowing through her. It had ignited a feeling in her that hadn't gone away. That feeling had been growing since she had been interrogated by Kylo.

And she heard the voices again. Two of them, at the very least. _Its energy surrounds us… and binds us._ Someone was calling her name. _Rey_ … Someone's hand was on her shoulder, gently shaking her.

… _these are your first steps._

Her eyes were open now. She jolted up, ready to fight. She felt the cold sheen of sweat on the back of her neck as she looked up at the woman with the short brown hair. Finn's doctor.

"Is Finn alright?" Rey was standing now, holding onto the doctor's arm looking for comfort.

"Yes, yes," she said, her voice still hushed, not wanting to wake those around them. "He's awake. He wants to see you."

Without waiting for instruction, Rey raced off toward the med wing, not even noticing that she hadn't bothered to put her shoes back on.

* * *

Finn was laid completely prone, on his stomach, on the hospital bed. Monitors around him showed his vitals. A nurse was busy applying what looked like a poultice to his opened, but cauterized, wound.

When Finn saw Rey in the entrance of the wing, he tried pushing himself up, but the strong-armed nurse pushed him back down. "Stay where you are," he had said gruffly.

Rey rushed to his side and knelt so her face was level with his. She pressed her forehead to his, and intermittently kissed his forehead and the back of his hand.

"How do you feel?"

He groaned, his eyes glassy from the medication they were giving him. "Hurts, but I can't say that I care too much right now."

Rey looked at the poultice. It was being applied the full length of his back. He would bear an ugly scar the rest of his life. "What is that?"

"Bacta," the nurse said, shaking his head. "It's not a tank, but it's the best we can do. Doctor Kalonia says that this will cut down healing time significantly. He'll still be bedridden for at least a week. Doctor Kalonia will explain all this…"

Just as the nurse finished up, Doctor Kalonia put her hand on Rey's shoulder. "Finn, now that Dermot has applied your bacta poultice, you should start healing enough that you can sit upright in a week. I have every confidence that we can get you back to your fit state, but I'll need you to get plenty of rest."

"Whatever it takes," Rey said, speaking for Finn. He was going to rest and recover, if she had anything to say about it.

"I'll come back in an hour to check on you. Rey, General Organa would like to speak with you."

Rey looked at Finn, searching his eyes for permission. He nodded. She hated to leave him so soon after he had woken up, but for risk of overstaying her welcome, Rey wished to keep at least the General happy with her. "I'll be back, ok? Don't go anywhere without me."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Finn added in his sardonic and medicated tone. Rey squeezed his hand, and followed Doctor Kalonia out.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The lightsaber weighed more than she thought it would. As Leia turned it over a few times, she imagined her father's hands around it, and Luke's. She thought it had been lost forever. Luke had told her as much, before he made one of his own. To have it back was extraordinary. But still, she had no use for it. It might have been Ben's at one point, but that was no longer possible.

Luke had offered to train her in the ways of the Force. She certainly was strong in the Force. She could sense things quite well, but was frustrated with the tedium of Jedi training. She felt like a foot soldier when Luke had trained her, very shortly after Endor. She knew her place was in politics. She knew Luke was the real Jedi.

Which brought her to Rey. Rey clearly was gifted. She knew so little of the girl though, and wanted to assess her for herself. So, there she stood, in the war room, waiting for Rey to arrive.

When she did, she stood there with an anxious expression. Leia set the lightsaber down on a table, and approached Rey, hugging her again.

"I hear that Finn has woken up. How's he doing?"

"Yes, he has," Rey said, self-conscious now that she felt the cold concrete under her bare feet. "He seems to be comfortable, thanks to Doctor Kalonia."

"Good, good…" Leia's eyes fixed on Rey's bare feet, and she smiled to herself. It felt good to smile, despite the weight of her sadness over Han. "We'll have to get you outfitted. Seems someone's run off with your shoes."

Rey tucked her toes under briefly, hoping to hide them somehow. "I ran when I heard Finn was awake…"

Leia nodded. "Rey," Leia put her hands gently on Rey's arm bandages, feeling her slight frame. "I wanted to thank you. For everything you did."

"Everything I…"

"I know," Leia added. "I saw it. Not exactly like a picture, but I know."

Rey cast her eyes to the floor, recalling how Kylo Ren had murdered Han; how she had charged Kylo in the forest, scarring his face. She clenched her jaw as she recalled the revelation that Kylo Ren was Han and Leia's son. It made her sick to think about.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do more. I should have been there, on that platform." Rey shook her head vehemently.

"I'm afraid you couldn't have. My son… Kylo Ren is too far into the dark side. I thought that Han could bring him back."

Silence between them.

"Rey…" Leia furrowed her brow. "Have you given any thought to what you'll do now?"

Rey's mouth gaped. She shook her head. "No. I can't go back to Jakku though."

Leia nodded. "What would you say if I offered you a place here? In the Resistance?"

"What would you have me do?"

"What else do you think, Rey?" Leia picked the lightsaber up from the table, and looked at it briefly before holding it out to Rey.

Rey swallowed. "Luke."

"Yes," Leia said. "We need to reach him. I don't want to bring the whole fleet down on him. And I don't think I can bring myself to face him just yet, after what my son did…"

"And they need you here," Rey added, knowing where the general's mind was going. She took the lightsaber without protest.

"Yes. The First Order is wounded, but they will be regrouping and will attack again soon."

"I can fight," Rey added, impulsively. "I can do more for the Resistance."

"I certainly do hope you'll help us while the map schematics are being plotted into our navigational systems. Ahch-To is so far out beyond the Outer Rim, it's almost like unchartered territory. We want you prepared for the journey."

Rey nodded. "Anything I can do until it's ready, I will happily do."

"And we thank you for that. But we can't have you in a combat position. Understandably. But as you're a first-rate pilot and mechanic, I don't see why you can't lend a hand on supply runs, and assist on repairs."

"Of course."

"Commander Dameron will give you your orders until your flight plans are plotted."

"Thank you, General Organa." Rey held the lighsaber to her stomach, protectively.

"Now," Leia added. "Let's get you into something else, shall we? At least some shoes."

* * *

General Organa had taken wonderful care of cleaning Rey up. She smiled as she directed the girl to the showers, thinking of Luke when she'd met him, fresh off Tatooine, the sun and sand still on his skin. Being who she was, Leia was able to have a few pieces of clothing altered quickly for Rey's slight frame. Much like the clothing she'd come in, Rey had picked out a grey tweed vest, pants that fastened below the knee, and grey arm braces.

With years of grime gone from her skin, and her hair in fresh knots, Rey felt an enormous weight lifted off her. She still felt out of place on D'Qar. But, she told herself that since she was leaving soon anyway, she needn't worry about how the rest of the Resistance felt about her.

In the early evening, after Rey had checked in on Finn and brought him a late lunch, Rey sought out Poe Dameron to receive her orders. As she walked down the line of X-wings, looking for Poe, Rey's stomach knotted. Poe had been friendly with her the night before, but for some reason, she was nervous that he would reject her as a troop. Still, she walked down the line, and knew she had found the right ship when she saw BB-8 rolling around the tail end of an X-wing.

BB-8 beeped in acknowledgement of her arrival, asking her what she was doing there, and rolled to her heels to greet her. "I had to check up on you, didn't I?"

Poe heard BB-8 talking with Rey, but kept working. He was on a ladder, tinkering under a panel of his own X-wing. Rey respected him, and all the other Resistance fighters for their personal care of their ships. It was a bond between pilot and ship that Rey understood, could identify with. If you treat your ship poorly and let her fall into disrepair, she'll let you down, and it's no one's fault but your own.

Rey called out to Poe. "Commander Dameron," she said, getting his attention. Poe stuck his head out from behind the panel, his brown eyes resting on her, and smiled.

" _'Commander_ Dameron'," Poe repeated with a smirk, wiping his hands with a rag slung over his shoulder. "I take it you've seen the General then." He stepped down from his ladder in one jump, landing on sure feet.

"Yes. She said you'd have orders for me." Rey gripped at the strap of her bag.

"Well, first let's get this _Commander_ stuff out of the way—it's Poe," Poe said with a sigh, his hands on his hips. He looked at the ordered chaos around him. Everyone had their place and their role. He looked sympathetically at the girl who was waiting for hers. "I'm making a supply run tonight. I could use a first mate. We're taking that cargo ship on a run to Naboo."

"Naboo? What's on Naboo?"

Poe flashed another toothy smile. " _Cargo_ , of course." He said it as if it were an obvious, satisfactory answer. "We're leaving right now, as a matter of fact. Ready?"

Ready to jump into action, Rey nodded, placing a hand on her pack to double check that the lightsaber was there. "Let's go."

Jogging behind Poe and BB-8, Rey scanned the tarmac for which ship they could possibly be taking. When she saw the old XS stock light freighter beside the Millenium Falcon, she had to laugh. It looked just about as beat up as the Falcon, but not as sophisticated or streamlined. And considering what an eyesore the Falcon was, it was saying something.

"Bet you never thought you'd be doing such glamorous work right off the bat, did you?" Poe asked, walking up the ramp of the freighter.

"I'm in a constant state of shock these days," Rey stated.

As soon as both of them were onboard, each of them knew exactly what to do. Poe watched for a moment as Rey began flipping switches and pushing buttons, knowing exactly how the freighter needed to be primed. "You know your stuff, kid."

Rey shrugged, strapping herself into her chair next to Poe. "Ready when you are, captain."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Naboo felt as if it had been arrested in time. The planet's residents had seen the destruction of the capital, and feared that the First Order would turn their eye on them. So, when Poe Dameron and Rey showed up looking for replacement X-wing parts and food rations, they were noticeably less than welcoming.

Grimm, the smuggler who had agreed to deal with the Resistance, had a shifty look about him the whole time Rey was helping to load the crates. She watched as Poe and the well-manicured smuggler got into a quiet argument.

For a smuggler, Rey thought, Grimm sure did take a lot of care in his personal appearance, with his hair perfectly parted and waved, and his trimmed beard. Then again, she had lived on Jakku her whole life, and had no frame of reference. In the days following meeting BB-8, Finn and being thrown into the most chaotic moments of her life, she'd been on more planets than she ever thought she would. She felt very out of place on Naboo, even in her new clothes.

The women were very fashionably dressed, draped in flowing silks and beads. Still, behind their gilded exteriors, Rey could sense their fear.

Just as the last crate was loaded onto the freighter called the Iron Mountain, Rey approached the two men who were arguing.

"You're going to back out _now_?" Rey heard Poe's voice.

"I can't be implicated. Not with the First Order in complete control now. Soon they'll descend on Naboo, and I can't get caught assisting the Resistance."

"Can't… or won't?"

"Does it matter, Dameron?"

"That's the last of it, captain," Rey said, interrupting the flow of their argument.

"Thank you, Rey," Poe said, thrusting a small box, containing what Rey assumed what some kind of payment, into Grimm's hands. "Prep the Mountain."

With the ship fully prepped, Poe came on board moments later, noticeably flustered.

"The criminal element of Naboo is getting scared," he explained, before Rey had a chance to ask.

"Is this bad for the Resistance?" Rey asked, hopeful he would say no.

"It's not good, but Grimm always was a bit of a yellow belly," Poe steered the Iron Mountain and they took off, but did not leave the planet's orbit as Rey had expected. "He's not our only supplier. Just the closest to D'Qar, until we move bases again. We can't stay longer than the week, now that the First Order knows where we are. They won't be incapacitated for long."

"Where is the next base?"

"Admiral Akbar will reveal that only the moment we start to leave. Those who need to know, already do, but most of us pilots just go where we're told."

"Is that what we're doing right now?"

"Yes. We've got a little more cargo to pick up."

"I thought we looked a little light…" Rey added. "Well, are you going to tell me what else we are doing?"

"In the lake country there's an estate. We've got a few people who need safe passage to the Resistance base."

"And why couldn't you have told me this back on D'Qar?" Rey asked.

"We try to keep missions like these fairly low-key. The passengers in question are very valuable. I am sure that when you leave to find Luke, only a small number will know your coordinates."

All of the people in the war room had seen the map, but without application to existing star maps, the star system was completely foreign. The higher command within the Resistance only wanted a handful of people knowing their intimate movements and plans, to safeguard against traitors. They had their own insiders in the First Order, but it would be foolish if they assumed no one in the Resistance could turn on them.

This answer satisfied Rey, and she dutifully tended the ship's controls as Poe piloted the ship into the lake country.

"It's so beautiful," Rey said, astonished. "I'd never been off Jakku until a few days ago…" She admonished herself for saying that. She had no idea why she'd just shared that with Poe.

Poe looked at Rey sadly, the same way Han Solo had looked at Rey when she commented on how green Takodana was. "Well," he said, "keep an open mind, because there's still a lot out there for you to see, kid."

"You keep calling me that," Rey said, revealing a small bit of annoyance. However, not wishing to be subordinate, she left it at that.

"I do. You're very observant," Poe said with a wry smile. "How old are you, anyway?"

"By my count, nineteen."

"'By your count'?" Poe asked. "What does that mean?"

Rey hesitated. "I'm not exactly sure how old I am."

"How can you not be sure?"

"I don't have to explain that to you, _Commander_ ," Rey said. She wasn't sure if they court-marshaled in the Resistance, but her feelings told her that Poe could take it just as well as he gave. For a moment, Rey considered leaving it at that, but after looking at Poe's facial expression, she softened.

"I don't know because I wasn't raised by my family."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." With that, Poe knew the subject was closed, and he focused his energy on landing in an open field next to what Rey assumed was the estate.

It looked as if it had fallen into disrepair in the last several years. Vined plants grew up its many high stoned walls. Chunks of stone were missing, or scattered on the ground. It looked as if it had once been a grand, palatial estate, inhabited by only the top echelon of Naboo society.

Just as the freighter landed, three people came out of the estate, dressed in deep crimson hued robes. Two men, and one older female stood waiting for Poe to land the ship. When Rey and Poe had descended the ramp, BB-8 trailing behind them, Rey watched as Poe embraced each one of them. After a moment, Poe turned to introduce them to Rey.

"Rey, may I introduce the last remaining members of the Senate." Rey's eyes widened.

"Vee Burell, Travers Beeler, and Mahan Jin."

Rey inclined her head in respect.

"Rey, would you run inside and assist the others?"

"Others?" Rey asked. Poe nodded, and said no more. Curious, Rey walked the ten paces toward the entrance of the estate and found about fifteen people scattered in the estate only a bundle or a bag to each of them. Some looked as if they hadn't slept for days. Rey assumed that somehow, through some miracle, these people had escaped the Hosnian system before it was destroyed by the Starkiller weapon.

Without having to ask what to do, Rey helped the very old to their feet, and grabbed as many packs as she could carry. Quickly she made her way back onto the freighter and secured their belongings.

"Settle in to the passenger hold, I'll go in for the rest," Rey turned to leave, when an old man called out to her.

"There's a box in the dining hall," he called.

"I'll get it," Rey rushed off, not waiting for the old man to respond.

Rey ran up the stone steps of the estate again, and made her way into the main entrance. It had high, vaulted ceilings that would have had grand chandeliers at one point. Rey saw one of them dismantled and discarded in a far off corner. The room had a double stairwell, both leading to a landing on the second floor. Without thinking, Rey ascended one side of the stairwell, and walked down a length of hallway before turning to her left. She found herself immediately in a great room with a long table, on which there were was one mid-sized box.

The box appeared as if it had just been placed there, but everything else in the dining hall looked as if it had been that way for years. Toppled chairs, torn tapestries, and an empty place above the mantle where a portrait would have hung. The breeze that flowed through the broken stained glass windows scattered the handful of dry leaves that had fallen through the openings.

Rey paused once she reached the box, and considered the room. A cold chill ran up her arms as she felt temporarily transported. Distantly, Rey was aware of a crow's grating caw from outside. She rubbed at her eyes momentarily, hoping it was just fatigue that was getting to her, but when she pulled her hand away, there was a hearty fire roaring in in the fireplace at the head of the table. Her stomach dropped as she saw the little girl again.

This time she knelt down on the floor, dwarfed in the middle of a burgundy rug, playing with two dolls, her back to her older self. Rey exhaled in disbelief and fear, and turned on her heels, poised to run. She didn't get but three paces before she turned a corner and ran right into Poe, nearly knocking him over.

"Woah, woah," Poe said, steadying Rey by holding onto both of her arms. "Hey there, you ok?"

Rey took a single rattling breath. "Yes," she cleared her throat. "Yes, I just thought I heard…" She couldn't think of a single excuse.

Poe picked up the silence. "Well, the old man sent me after you. He didn't get a chance to tell you where the dining hall was; he was convinced you'd be lost in here. Looks like you found it, huh?"

"Yeah," Rey said, forcing a smile. She turned, grabbing the box that she'd been sent there for in the first place. "Almost forgot." She hoisted it up almost effortlessly. She was scrawny, Poe thought, but strong for her size. As he followed a few paces behind her, Poe thought to himself that there was definitely more to this girl than he knew. She seemed so guarded. But he could already see the cracks in her foundation, and hoped that in time, he would get to know the real Rey.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"I hear you're a first-rate pilot." Poe had just brought the Iron Mountain into the inner stratosphere of Naboo. "If your co-piloting skills are any indication, I think I should worry for my own job safety."

Rey shook her head. "I'm sure I'm not anywhere near your caliber. But on Jakku, you sort of pick up on things. I'm fair enough."

"Well, if you're alright with it, I think I'll let you take over for this leg of the trip. I've got to go have a word with Vee Burrell before we reach D'Qar. I can assist you into hyperspace."

"I can pilot, sure," Rey nodded. Switching controls, Rey took the lead readily, hoping she didn't seem like she was eager to show off. Once they were out of orbit, Rey punched the hyperdrive, and they were off. At this point, Poe had all but taken his hands off the controls as he watched this extraordinary girl take to flight like a fish to water.

He smiled, and unbuckled himself from his seat. Standing, he put his hand firmly on Rey's shoulder. "Not bad, kid." Rey's eyes narrowed as she shot Poe a warning glance. Biting his lip, Poe gave Rey's shoulder another squeeze, and walked away.

* * *

In his wake, Rey sat stewing. She didn't know whether to be mad at Poe for calling her "kid" again, or what ever else there was lurking in the recesses of her mind. Whatever the cause, her face felt hot, and she was thankful that he'd left her there to pilot alone. They would be out of hyperspace soon, which she could manage on her own, but landing would be easier with a co-pilot.

She took a few breaths to calm herself, and brought them out of hyperspace. As soon as she'd done this, Poe slid back into his chair, and looked at Rey. "You did well tonight. Lucky we didn't run into any First Order."

"Lucky," Rey repeated, unsure what to say.

Within twenty minutes, they had landed on the tarmac, which was visibly subdued by Resistance standards. The fact that it was well past midnight did not escape Rey's mind. For a moment, she felt a pang of guilt that she'd left Finn. Yes, she'd been on orders from General Organa, and by extension Poe Dameron, but she felt that she should have been by his side.

Still, Rey didn't abandon her post, and helped unload the crates of supplies, and helped the elderly refugees disembark. Once they were safely off the cargo ship, and all the cargo had been secured, Rey approached Poe hopefully.

"Command— _Poe_ ," Rey started, wringing her hands. "I've been away for more than I'd like. Do you need anything else? I was kind of hoping—"

"I'll come with you," Poe said. "I haven't seen him yet. He was out cold the last time I tried."

"Oh," she replied, tiredly. "Yeah, of course." So he, she, and BB-8 all made their wordless journey to the med wing.

Finn, of course, was asleep when they both got to his bed. One of the nurses filled them in on his condition.

"He's been ordered to lay on his stomach for a few days longer, while the bacta poultices are changed every few hours. Then we'll allow him on it again, and we can start rehabilitation. He's really very resilient."

Rey looked back at her sleeping friend with a heavy heart. Again, she felt that the pain of another was her own fault. If she hadn't underestimated Kylo Ren in the forest, maybe he wouldn't have knocked her out the way he did, leaving Finn to defend for himself. She sighed, forcing herself to abandon this feeling for the moment, and approached Finn carefully.

Again, she placed a kiss on Finn's forehead and walked away, disregarding Poe.

Just as she thought she might be rid of him, he was trailing her once again.

"You care for him, don't you?" he asked from behind her.

"What sort of question is that?" Rey turned to face Poe. "Of course I care for him."

Poe gave a half smile. He knew she didn't understand his meaning. "He's lucky to have you," he added, guiding her to where he was going.

"It's not—" Rey threw her hands up. "It's not like that. Why does everyone always go _there_?"

"Everyone, huh?" Poe countered, his devilish grin widening.

"He came back for me. He could have left me to… _him_ , but he came back for me. That kind of loyalty… He's the first friend I've ever had." As the words came out of her mouth, Rey felt her collected exterior begin to falter. Tears welled in her eyes, and she knew that if she blinked, they would fall.

She didn't want to fall to pieces like this in front of Poe Dameron, but each time she had encountered him, there had been something about him that made her feel she could be this open. It both comforted and frustrated her.

Rey crossed her arms, hugging them to herself, and looked up at the low ceiling to distract herself and avoid Poe's eyes. "I might as well have done that to him myself." She shook her head.

"You can't say that," Poe said, his dark brown eyes narrowing. "That's not fair to you or to him."

"But you don't know," Rey said. "No one _knows_."

"No one _needs_ to. Because you're a good person, it's as clear as day. And I'm not going to let you stew in whatever guilt you've cooked up for yourself, so you're coming with me."

"What?" Rey responded.

Poe grabbed Rey's hand gently, and started pulling her in another direction, walking with purpose. "It's an order, Rey. You're not off duty yet."

"And the hand grabbing…" Rey muttered under her breath. Poe chose to ignore it, and walked her down a long tunnel to a far hangar. "Where are we going?"

Poe stopped Rey just as they were about to enter the hangar, and turned her so they were a breath's width apart. BB-8 skittered ahead, into the hangar. "You and Finn are just about the bravest people I know, and I'm not going to sit by and let you feel guilty for the actions of the First Order. You don't seem to have a very high opinion of yourself." Rey opened her mouth to protest, but Poe continued. "At least you think no one here does. But if you just give them a chance, I think you'll find that that's not true."

"Them?" Rey asked, trying to distract herself from their proximity.

"There're a few of my pilots from the squadron who were going to celebrate our victory. The last day or so has been a bit disjointed, but… before we move planet, we wanted to revel a bit in it."

"Oh," Rey said, heart sinking. There would be people. She thought she'd just about had her fill of new people for a whole lifetime.

Taking her short response as acquiescence, Poe pulled Rey into the hangar, where there were at least fifteen pilots all congregating around makeshift chairs. The growing sound of their raucous banter made Rey want to double back, but something about the way Poe held her hand made her stay. She promised herself silently that if it turned south, she would retreat for the hangar with the cots.

One by one, the pilots all turned and stopped talking, waiting for Poe to say something. Their drinks were frozen in their hands. Poe put his hand on Rey's shoulder, and spoke to the bunch.

"Guys, this is Rey, who I'm sure you all know helped us with Starkiller. She and I just finished our supply run to Naboo. Thought I'd bring her along…"

Poe let go of Rey, and headed towards the cluster of pilots. He slapped one on the back, and grabbed the bottle from his hands. "Glasses?" The pilot pointed, and Poe grabbed two, pouring an unidentified liquid into them.

Rey thought she would die from the silence. Just when she was ready to leave, one of the pilots grabbed the glass from Poe and brought it to Rey, extending his hand. Rey took it. He was heavier set than Poe, with brown hair and kind eyes. He shook her hand and replaced his with the glass. "Snap Wexley, good to finally meet you."

"And you," Rey said.

"We all appreciate what you did on Starkiller."

Rey nodded her acknowledgement.

"Yeah, what did you do exactly?" a pilot spoke up behind Snap. A female, built about the same as Rey, sat at the cluster of makeshift chairs and recliners. She sat on a large spare tire, sipping from her glass.

"At ease, Pava." Poe came back to Rey, putting an arm around her shoulder, walking her over to where the female pilot was seated, and tapped her foot with his to tell her to move over. As she complied, the girl huffed, and made room for Rey.

"You'll have to forgive Jess, she's a bit of a ballbuster."

"I do try, but most of you make it so easy it's hard to resist," Jess replied. The rest laughed, and suddenly the awkward introduction period seemed to be over.

"So, as I was saying before, I had no idea he was there in the first place. So there I was, damn him _this_ , the hell with him _that_ … All the while he's right behind me, just nodding his head."

That drew a snigger from a fair few of the pilots. Rey considered the liquid in her glass. Not knowing what it was, she brought it to her nose and sniffed. It had a spicy aroma about it, and putting it to her lips, Rey found that its taste was equally powerful. It burned her mouth and throat as it went down, but Rey hid it well, clearing her throat lightly, listening to the story.

Poe watched Rey, seated across from her. He grinned to himself as he observed Rey trying the Vaschean rye for what he assumed was the first time. He made a note to himself to watch her consumption, and to ensure she didn't drink too much.

Much of the night progressed this way. Rey listened politely, laughing when appropriate. She would look over at Poe intermittently, catching him looking at her. Only, he never averted his eyes, which unsettled Rey, causing her stomach to hitch. After her second glass of rye, she began to settle in a little more, even offering comments. The rye made her head a little fuzzy, but otherwise she just felt at ease.

Unsurprisingly, the conversation turned to the events that transpired leading up do, and during the battle at Starkiller. Each pilot took their own turn recounting what they took away from the battle. Much of it was the same. Rey knew where the conversation was headed. She finished off her second glass, preparing herself for it.

The conversation halted a moment, and the boldest of them all spoke up. Again, it was Jessika Pava who pushed the subject.

"How was it… down there?" she asked, this time with no hostility, only curiosity.

Rey took a deep breath, looking at all the expectant faces. She let it out, looking to the bottom of her empty glass.

"Guys, she doesn't have to tell us—" Poe began, holding up a hand.

"No…" Rey started, hesitating a bit. "No, I suppose everyone ought to know. If only to put an end to speculation."

"So," Jessika leaned in, "was it Kylo Ren who… killed General Solo?"

Rey nodded. "He didn't look like he expected it. I think he thought he could get through to him."

"And you," Jessika continued. "You fought him."

"I did."

"Is he… could he be…"

"Dead?" Rey raised her eyebrows. "Maybe. Not the way I left him, but unless he got off the planet, he must be. I don't know."

"How did you fight him?" Jessika asked. "I mean, he's on the dark side. Snoke's puppet. I guess what we're all wondering is how you, a scavenger from Jakku could—"

" _Easy_ , Jess," Poe warned.

"No, I want to know. How did you beat him?"

Rey reached for the bottle of rye, pouring herself another few fingers of the stuff. After a few sips, she she sighed, preparing herself. She looked at Poe. She would much rather it just be him to whom she was speaking. "The longer I was there, the more I felt something growing inside me. I could see into his mind, like he does. I could persuade people to do what I told them." Her gaze sharpened on Jessika, her tone edging on defensive. "And yes, even on Jakku, a lowly scavenger such as me could learn to wield a weapon well enough. I don't understand what happened, nor do I know how I was able to get out of it alive, but I did."

Rey placed her fingertips over her lips, wishing she hadn't said all that. Rey stood, handing her glass to Jessika, with the remainder of the contents sloshing around.

"I'm sorry, I've had too much," she ran her hands over her hair, which felt like it had loosened a bit. She smoothed the small fly-aways. "I'd better get some rest." Rey walked away slowly, not bothering to look back as Snap back-handedly swatted Jessika's arm.

"Did you have to?" He asked her.

"What?" Rey heard her voice in the distance. "I'm apparently the only one man enough to ask."

Rey chastised herself. So desperate to earn the favor of the squadron, she'd given them more than they needed to know. More than she _wanted_ them to know. She felt that all she was, was no more than a vague curiosity. Upon standing, Rey began to feel more of the effects of the rye, her face running hot. As she walked away, down the empty, concrete hallway, Rey began to pull her already-loose hair out of their knots.

As the last of the knots was taken out, she heard footsteps growing behind her. Scrunching her face in mild annoyance, she stopped walking, not bothering to look back at who she knew was Poe. Before long, she felt his hand at her elbow, coaxing her to face him. When she did, she saw the remorse in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry she pressed you like that. She's like that. She just… idolizes Luke, and I think she's jealous of you."

"Jealous?" Rey felt like her eyelids were far too heavy. "What has she got to be jealous about?"

Poe desperately wanted to tell her that Jessika took too much pride in being the prettiest pilot amongst a sea of male, testosterone-driven pilots, and anyone as beautiful as Rey was bound to drum up those type of feelings. But he held back.

"She just doesn't like competition."

"And here I was, thinking the competition was the First Order," Rey said, swaying slightly, running her hands through her loose hair, smiling drunkenly. She closed her eyes. She felt like she could fall asleep on her feet. Suddenly her eyes were jolted open when Poe steadied her with his hands on either side of her arms.

"I let you drink far too much," he said. "I'm sorry. I just wanted them to be more accepting of you. I thought if they just sat down with you they'd be a little more at ease."

"I just don't know where I fit," Rey said, opening her eyes, and looking up at Poe. "No one can _tell_ me. I suppose there's one person who can." She shook her head. "And I don't want to go." She chuckled to herself.

Poe didn't know what to say. He knew the burden that was about to be placed on Rey's shoulders was a lot to handle. Even a scrapper like her was bound to falter.

"No one's forcing you to…"

"Oh," she said, nodding slowly. "But who else? Who else will be the one to convince Luke to come back? I never asked for any of this." The weight of everything came crashing down on Rey, and her eyes filled with tears. Too inebriated to quell her emotions, she let the tears fall. For a moment she wept silently before Poe found himself pulling her to him in an embrace.

In any other situation, Rey would have objected to hugging a virtual stranger. But before her was a man whose calm demeanor set her at ease. Without question, Rey melted into Poe's embrace, holding onto his flight suit for support.

"I do know a little bit about what it was like to be held by the First Order," Poe said softly. "So, even as an experienced commander in the Resistance, they still broke me. And I can't imagine what it must be like for you, who's been thrust into this so quickly."

"It's too much," she said, calming a bit.

Poe pulled back, and looked at Rey. Without question, he brushed away her tears with his thumbs. "I owe you and Finn for so much. My life. The success of the mission. So, if it ever gets to be too much, I can carry a bit too."

Rey blinked at Poe, searching his eyes, her senses dulled, but still aware of the tightness in her chest. "I think you already are."

* * *

 **AN: Thank you for the kind reviews, guys! Yes, this is definitely a slow burn story. I really hope I haven't gone overboard with the schmaltz. I really do appreciate you taking the time to review. It definitely inspires me to keep working.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

* * *

Poe had firmly grasped Rey by the waist, and was helping her walk a straight line to the cot-filled hangar.

"Just in here—there're two cots on the end. We won't wake anyone over here." Poe helped Rey down onto the cot, where she sat for a moment. Her head was fuzzy and she swayed with exhaustion and drunkenness.

"Poe," she whispered. Rey reached out, and brazenly grabbed Poe's hand. He sat on the cot in front of her. Their knees nearly touched.

"Yes, Rey?" Poe held her hand, biting back the temptation to brush the skin of her hand with his thumb.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

Poe hesitated a moment. "You and Finn are good people. I owe you."

Rey gave Poe a studied glance in the near-dark hangar, the only light being the glow from the entrance. It wasn't the debt, she told herself.

As if shocked out of her stupor, Rey realized she had grabbed Poe's hand, a gesture she had much disdain for in the past, and let it go. Shaking herself mentally, she lay back on the cot. She closed her eyes and wished for sleep. Poe stared for a few moments at Rey, who was most likely half asleep already, her hair a mess and her feet dangling off the side of the cot. Smiling, he removed his jacket, and followed Rey's example, closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Chewbacca's low growl resonated in her ears, pulling her from her sleep. At first, he tried coaxing her awake gently, but his growls became more and more insistent.

Rey's eyes felt like they were welded shut. It was Chewie shaking her shoulder that got her to wake up fully, but with a more-than-mild headache. "What, what's happened?" She was sitting halfway up now.

Chewie rumbled a few words at her, and this set Rey to getting herself hastily ready. "I'll be there in a minute," she said, tying her hair into its first knot. She looked around herself as she continued to fasten her hair. She was on a cot—the only occupied cot in the whole hangar. _Not good_ , she thought to herself.

At first she couldn't quite recall how she'd gotten to the cot, but within a moment, she recalled that Poe had seen her back to her cot, taking the empty one beside her. She squeezed her eyes shut with embarrassment at the flood of images of herself from the night before. She hoped that she hadn't made too much of a fool of herself, drinking what ever jet fuel those hot-shot pilots passed off as alcohol, but she didn't have the time to think it over.

With her hair neatly but quickly done up, she reached for her vest and threw it on over her tunic. Finally, she snatched her bag, opening it to confirm that Luke's lightsaber was still there.

Within two minutes, Rey was rushing into the control room of the Resistance base. People were muttering orders and coordinates into headsets, others were staring at schematics and holo-displays. General Organa stood stoically, her hand resting on a mid-sized box on the holo-display table in front of her. The same box that Rey had transported from Naboo. Rey focused on it briefly before her attention was drawn to what everyone in the room was looking at.

A holo-projection of an elderly woman was speaking, and wrapping up her transmission.

"… therefore the base transition must be moved up, all troops, supplies and equipment dismantled and be en route to the next location within the next twelve hours. Await coordinates. Good luck."

Her image scrambled into static, and then she was gone.

"Mon Mothma has given us twelve hours," Leia warned the inhabitants of the room. "Let's not waste them." She left it at that, knowing that no one in the room needed orders. No one, except for Rey.

She turned on Rey, and approached her intently. She took both of Rey's hands in hers.

"You must go. Chewie has the Falcon ready, and the ship has been stocked. The coordinates have been uploaded directly to the Falcon. The only people who have the coordinates are myself, Commander Dameron and Admiral Akbar." She paused, reading the shocked expression on Rey's face. "I had hoped it wouldn't be this soon, but we have inside information that the First Order means to make an attack on D'Qar tomorrow. If we are to find Luke, you must leave within the hour. Chewie knows what to do to find the location of our base when you return."

Rey's mouth felt as if she'd been walking on the sands of Jakku for days with no water. She swallowed, and shook her head. "I won't know what to say to him." She didn't mean Chewbacca.

Leia's face contorted briefly in sorrow. "You'll know, when the words come to you. But for my part, I hope he knows… tell him how sorry Han and I were. The most important thing, Rey, is that you get him here to us. We _must_ try again. Luke and I. And now you."

"Try…" Rey swallowed and shook her head. "Try what?"

"To rebuild the Jedi Order, of course."

Rey felt her jaw hang open slightly. She knew they needed Luke, but she hadn't thought that far ahead. She thought maybe he might just be a fighter, but she knew what a naïve thought that was. She knew that this was what the Resistance truly needed from Luke Skywalker. Still, she had no time to communicate her fears to the General, and nodded.

"Do I have time to see Finn?"

"Do what you will with your time, but be on the tarmac in an hour. I will be there to see you off."

Without another word, Rey turned, and walked as fast as she could to the medical wing. Looking around, watching doctors and nurses pack supplies in metal crates, Rey found Finn, looking equally distressed.

They'd moved him to a seated position, no doubt preemptively because of the sudden move. He looked heavily medicated, but still alert, looking for Rey. When his eyes met her, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Rey," Finn called. Rey was at his side instantly. Not wishing to jostle him about, Rey knelt and took his hand in hers. She was amazed at how quickly she'd gotten comfortable with holding Finn's hand.

"I have to go," she said, solemnly. She avoided his eyes.

"I know." Finn squeezed her hand.

"I _will_ come back for you," she assured him.

"I know," Finn repeated. "So… Luke Skywalker, huh?"

"I can't believe he exists. I can't believe this is happening, Finn."

"Tell me about it. I was just a number a few days ago." Finn shook his head, wincing as he did so.

Rey eyed him with concern. "How long has it been since they medicated you?"

"It's about that time," Finn sighed.

Rey waved Doctor Kalonia over to Finn's side, and Finn was quickly given his last shot before he would be prepared for the move.

In the moments before Finn sunk too deeply into his medicated twilight, Rey kissed him on the cheek and repeated her promise.

Rey steadily made her journey onto the tarmac. She had helped Chewie with some last minute crate loading in one of the hangars, and had secured her own meager belongings. All that really mattered was the lightsaber, but still she slung her staff over her shoulder. Feeling its weight, she realized that she probably didn't need it, as she had the most sophisticated weapon in the galaxy in her bag, but still she felt it would not be right to claim ownership of it. It had called to her, flown right into her hand, not Kylo Ren's.

No, it was Luke's, until he said otherwise.

A crowd had gathered outside the Millenium Falcon. Rey was surprised, but touched nonetheless. They had taken a moment out of their last-minute evacuation to see her off.

Leia stood in front of her, hugged her goodbye, and sent her off with a few parting words.

"Rey?"

She turned. "May the Force be with you."

Chills ran down her spine. She'd only heard that phrase in stories. But she felt like she remembered it from a time before stories. It made no sense to her, but still she nodded and walked to the Falcon.

As she neared the ramp, she heard her name called behind her. Rey turned, looking into Poe Dameron's eyes as he approached her. He neared her at a jogging pace, and slowed to a halt. They stood silently for a moment, both of them unsure what to say.

"You feeling okay?" Poe asked, ignoring the urgent movements around them.

"Yeah," Rey said with a sigh and a half smile. "Thanks. For getting me to a cot safely."

"Yeah, it looked like you needed some help. Bet they don't have that stuff on Jakku, do they?"

"Was it that obvious?" Rey asked, her face growing hot, but smiling nonetheless.

Poe flashed his boyish grin. "Just a little bit," he said, his eyes narrowed in his smile.

"Well," Rey said, readjusting her staff on her shoulder. "I suppose I'll see you at the next base… or the base after that. Which ever comes first."

"Don't be nervous," Poe said. "My mother knew Luke… he was a good man. I know that if anyone is going to get to him, it's you."

"I just hope you're right. And I hope that it's not too late. For the Resistance."

"As long as there's _light_ , Rey," Poe took Rey's hand gently in his, "we've got a chance."

Rey nodded knowingly, giving Poe's hand a gentle squeeze in return. Poe moved his thumb gently on the back of her fingers before letting her hand go. The gesture was small, but left a pulling sensation in Rey's chest. She took a breath to shake herself. She turned and began to walk towards where R2-D2 and Chewie were waiting by the ramp to the Millenium Falcon. Before boarding, Rey turned and left Poe with one more parting remark.

"Save a little bit of fun for us, alright Commander?"

"Somehow I don't think that will be a problem, Rey," Poe smiled, and raced off towards his X-wing. He and Snap were to escort the Falcon out of orbit and make sure that they made it into hyperspace without any issue.

Rey sighed, and cast one more glance over the Resistance fighters, and the beautiful landscape of D'Qar before closing the ramp to the Millenium Falcon, and taking her place as captain.

* * *

 **AN: I took a bit of time to really think about where I want the story to go, and I've come up with quite a few things that I'm excited to put into place. I can't wait to get your take on it, so I hope to update more soon. As always, thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

* * *

A vast blue expanse, punctuated with islands that stuck out of the sea like emeralds. The waves crashed upon their shoals as they had for thousands of years, and still the islands endured. Where else in the universe could the First Jedi Temple have been created? Where else could the First Jedi Temple have endured the countless back and forth between the Dark and the Light side of the Force? And where else could Luke Skywalker have hidden for twelve years?

He had felt her the moment she had gone into hyperspace. In fact, he had felt her though the Force the moment she had come into her power. He wasn't quite sure who _she_ was, but he could feel her. He had felt the reverberations of the Force even this far away from the Core Worlds. But he knew the moment she was coming for him. With growing sadness, he dreaded her approach. He could not have even fled Ahch-To if he wanted. His X-wing had fallen out of disrepair in the twelve years he had hidden on the forgotten planet of Ahch-To. He had long since stripped the craft of necessary parts. No, he would simply have to wait for the girl to find him.

And wait he did. Atop one of the highest climbs of the temple, he waited on hollowed ground. Many of the first Jedi Masters were buried amongst the rocks and moss. Jedi Masters and one other.

She said nothing as she approached him. He knew she was there. She had appeared out of the fog, and stood before him, her eyes weighted with sorrow. When he turned, she withdrew something from her bag he never thought he would see ever again: his first lightsaber. The lightsaber that had belonged to his father before him.

With his hood drawn back, they stood like that for what seemed like hours, but was only a few moments.

"You have much to tell me," Luke said, at last. The girl nodded once. Luke approached her. Considering the lightsaber for a moment longer, Luke seemed to sigh as he took the weapon with his biomechanical hand, and cast his eyes to the rocky ground. With the lightsaber secured within the folds of his robe, he started his descent on the treacherous stone steps. She did not need to be told to follow him.

After almost a half an hour of climbing, Rey and Luke had reached a distant part of the island, and walked into what looked at first like a cave. Rey, even in her fit state, was slightly winded after climbing as far as they did. She was still catching her breath when Luke had lit various torches in the room from the small fire that was alive in the corner.

Rey looked up and found that the cave was in fact not a cave at all, but a small room with a high, vaulted ceiling that narrowed at its highest point. It had a small opening at the top that let in the morning light. The walls were polished smooth, and held many inscriptions in a language that she did not recognize.

"Sit," Luke instructed, not bothering to turn towards Rey. He set about placing a kettle in the coals of the fire. Rey did as she was bid, and sat on a wicker chair close to the fire, still coming down from her exertion. By the time Luke had finished poking the hot coals and sat down, Rey felt electrified with nervousness. Luke had barely said ten words to her. Her mind raced as she thought of what she could possibly say to _the_ Luke Skywalker.

"You have no reason to be nervous, girl," the gruff Jedi said as he sat on a small, nearby stone pedestal that at one point may have served as some kind of altar.

"I've been going over things in my head for days now, trying to think of what I would say to you."

His clear blue eyes scanned her. Skinny, but bright, full of potential, and beneath her exterior, he suspected she was very strong. Both physically and with the Force. Very much like someone he had once known, which he pushed from his mind as soon is as it came. "And what have you come up with?"

Rey took a moment. "You're the Resistance's only hope. We need your help."

Luke's eyes lit up, and Rey could have sworn she saw the hint of a smile behind them. "Never did I think _I_ would be _anyone's_ last hope."

"I was thrust into all of this only a matter of days ago," Rey added. "So much has happened, I hardly believe it myself. I don't understand a lot of it. I can only tell you what I have seen."

Luke wrapped his arms into the folds of his robe, and crossed his legs in front of him. "Start with Han." He wanted her to start there.

"Han?" Rey's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "But you can't possibly—"

"Have felt the disturbance in the Force from this far? Felt the surge in the Dark side when my nephew killed my best friend and brother-in-law?" Luke brought his left hand to his beard, and smoothed it slightly to center himself. "I think you had better start from the beginning."

So, Rey recounted the events preceding her arrival at Ahch-To. Meeting BB-8, Finn, Han, and her eventual capture by Kylo Ren. It was then that Rey described in vivid detail her use of the Force. She hadn't told anyone as much as she told Luke. Luke was silent, only taking a moment here or there to tend to their tea while she spoke, or run his hand over his beard in silent contemplation.

It was her account of her use of the Force that really got Luke's attention. He would have to come back to it soon.

"I see. And now you're here." A moment of silence passed. "I left for a reason. I failed. If I couldn't help before, I certainly won't be of any help now."

"Leia doesn't think so," Rey blurted out. She put her hand to her mouth for a moment, and then willed herself to continue. "General Organa, who lost so much. She still believes in you. Everyone does."

"And… how do they propose I help?"

"Leia, she…" Rey set her cup of tea down. "She wants you to try again. With the Jedi."

The pain in Luke's face was clear. "My padawans took years to find. To train. If you're looking for a swift end to the First Order, this isn't it."

In a moment of either sheer stupidity or brazen bravery, Rey volunteered herself. "I'll help. I'll do what ever you tell me to. Train me." Her stomach seized as she shocked herself with how readily she came to admit her desire to learn the ways of the Force.

Luke smiled. "You sound like a strong girl, very talented. But you're one person. And you have no idea how powerful Snoke really is."

"Not powerful enough to find you," Rey ventured.

"No… But the Light and Dark. They work differently. We can sense disturbances, but the Force isn't exactly like a homing beacon."

"I was told… a little of what happened. Han told me that it was Ben. It wasn't you. Snoke twisted his thoughts, planted seeds of doubt. You can't blame yourself for it forever."

" _What happened_ ," Luke nearly whispered, "I couldn't possibly describe to you how awful it was. And for me to have not seen it coming. I did fail. If I'm to never _fail_ again, I must never _try_ again." Suddenly, as if he were looking at the Force ghost of Master Yoda himself, he heard his words echo in his ears. _Do, or do not, there is no try…_

Rey had come all this way. If she couldn't convince Luke, what good was she to the Resistance? What good was anything she'd done so far? She cast her eyes down to the stone floor in defeat.

"I will train you." Luke spoke reluctantly. Rey lifted her head and searched Luke's expression. " _For a period of time_ , and if I am pleased with your progress, I will consider further action. It can't be like the last time. I must be absolutely sure…"

Rey's eyes lit up, and she breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"You shall address me as Master Luke during our training. What shall I call you, padawan?"

"Rey," she said.

Luke blinked several times. It _was_ her. He was sure of it now. He would have to tell her eventually. He would have to be careful with her. Betraying nothing of his shock, Luke cleared his throat.

" _Rey_. Now," Luke said, walking towards the entrance to the room. "Take me to your ship—You have old friends of mine with you whom I would very much like to see."

* * *

 **AN: made a few changes and it's been updated. Apologies for any confusion there. As always, reviews are encouraged and appreciated. Reading your great comments gives me inspiration to continue. Also, if you are on Tumblr, I do have a blog associated with my writing, beneath-a-western-sky (both Off Autopilot and my other fic, the Chaos in Solitude, an Obi-Wan fic). I will occasionally post pictures and gifs that inspire me, will show up in the chapters, or may help you with picturing something I've written. Also there are some personal musings, if you're ever curious as to what I'm up to that's keeping me from writing. Cheers!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

* * *

He was down at least fifty credits—fifty credits more than the one hundred credits he had been down an hour earlier. Normally Poe was an ace hand at sabacc, but tonight just didn't seem to be his night. Finn, however, seemed to take to the game like a fish to water. Finn, Poe, and four other Resistance pilots all sat at the makeshift sabacc table, drinks and credits scattered amongst the cards.

"Damn it," Poe said after his hand was dealt. He had no choice but to fold. He slapped his cards down with more vigor than he'd meant.

"Woah there, Commander," Snap said, a cigar hanging out of his mouth, the hint of a smile on his lips. Tendrils of smoke filled the air. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you've finally ended your winning streak at sabacc."

Poe shot him a look through narrowed eyes. He smiled sarcastically. "I don't know what you're talking about Wexley."

"And if _I_ didn't know any better, I'd say that you've gone soft," Jessika Pava spat, under her breath.

"Now Jess," Wexley chided, clapping the petite girl on the shoulder with enough force that she nearly spilled her drink. "If I'm not mistaken, I counted, what… fourteen TIE fighters that Poe took out this morning? Fourteen to your seven, I believe. If anyone's going soft, darlin' I'd say it's you."

Jess was silent. She seethed in her seat, and sipped at her Corellian wine. They had taken a shipment that was intended for the First Order, and distributed rations and cases of wine to the Resistance fighters. No matter how good the wine was, it still took none of the bitterness out of Jess.

As the rest of the table conversed, Snap leaned over to Poe and murmured into his ear. "Think there's a nerve that's been hit somewhere?"

"Dunno what you mean, Snap," Poe said with a sigh.

"Uh huh…" Snap said in disbelief. "Wouldn't have anything to do with that scavenger you've been pining over these past few weeks, would it?"

"Be that as it may," Poe admitted, lowering his voice so Jessika could not hear him. "Jessika has only ever been a troop to me."

"Oh, buddy…" Snap said, tapping the ash off the end of his cigar before putting it back in his mouth. "I'm sure she hoped that wouldn't always be the case."

"Well, it is. I think I'm out for the rest of the night, guys." Poe scraped the chair back, and grabbed his drink before he left.

"You're not leaving already?" Finn asked, now flush with credits.

"Sorry Finn, I'm busted for the night," he added. It really didn't matter anyway—credits weren't much good to Resistance fighters. It was a rare chance that any of them would be able to use their credits in First Order controlled territory. Even then, it was for people who were deep undercover, or Resistance supporters who didn't have such a high profile as he and most of his friends did. Whatever currency they confiscated as part of their victories, they gambled for the sheer fun of it.

Poe turned and left his friends at the table, laughing and joking. He needed air anyway. Jessika's testy nature only cemented his desire to leave. BB-8 rolled behind him, chattering at his back as they walked down a hallway.

"Yeah, I miss her too, buddy," he muttered to the droid behind him, exiting the cargo bay of the base.

Running his hand through his thick brown curls, Poe breathed in the thick, humid night air of Felucia. It hadn't done much to help tame his unruly hair, that much was certain. Why Felucia had been chosen as the next base was beyond him. He knew that the structure they occupied had been a smuggler's warehouse before the days of the Clone Wars and had largely gone unremembered since then. So he understood it from a pragmatic stance.

It wasn't all terrible. There were the rains, which cooled the air significantly. But at night, it wasn't much help. The terrain was beautiful, and Poe had never seen anything like it. Giant plants that, on any other planet, would be about two feet high, stretched fifty or sixty feet in the air. Bright purples and greens. At night the sound of wild rancors in the distance both terrified and ensnared one's imagination. He only wished that Rey was here to see it.

Poe looked out at the graveyard of starships that littered the jungle bed. The jungle had overtaken the ships that had been shot down during the Clone Wars, leaving an eerie marriage of nature and man. Silently he finished the contents of his flask, and tucked it away in his new bomber jacket. He'd had his old jacket repaired for Finn. It had been repaired using red leather laces. He could have had it repaired to near-pristine condition, but Finn said that he wanted it to stay as a reminder.

When Poe asked him what it was a reminder of, his eyes grew serious.

"That I have to be ready next time."

 _Ready_. Poe had lived in a constant state of _ready_ for most of his adult life. Even in the safety of the Resistance base, he was carrying a blaster. He always knew the fastest way out of a room once he entered. But no amount of preparation could have readied him for the feeling that grew inside him. He had only had a handful of exchanges with the enigmatic scavenger girl, but they had left their mark.

He wondered if she had found Luke. He did not think they had fallen into the hands of the First Order, or else they would have heard about it by now. He hoped that she was with Luke, training. He hoped that she would bring Luke back and they could really start to chip away at the armor of the First Order. He also knew that he wanted her to come back just so he could see her.

He had always had a soft spot for strong women. Independent women. He had his mother to thank for that. Having been raised by a female pilot, and mentored by a princess, rebel and general, Poe had a strong appreciation for women. It was this reason that he had not yet garnered a reputation as a cad or scoundrel in the fleet. He let others assume that responsibility.

There had been opportunities, small romances. But they were always short-lived, if only because of his responsibilities as a commander. Perhaps Rey would be another one of those passing opportunities. But something deep inside him hoped that their opportunity had yet to come, and it was only a matter of time.

"It's late, Dameron," the voice came from behind him. He turned, knowing exactly who it was.

"It is," Poe said, taking his eyes away from General Organa, who stood at his side.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I should say the same to you, general," Poe said, a twinkle in his eye. "I just finished a few hands of sabacc with a few others. They wiped me out."

"Ah, yes, the oh-so-useless credits I hear so much about."

Silence passed between the two of them for a moment.

"You think about her a lot," Leia said.

"That obvious, huh?"

"To anyone with eyes, Poe," Leia chuckled. "That, and I sense it. I may not be as strong as Luke, but he taught me enough."

"You've never told me exactly _how_ much," Poe said, glancing at the much-shorter general beside him.

"And I don't intend to," she smiled coyly. "No, some tricks are better left up your sleeve. You never know when you might need them."

"Right you are, general." More silence passed. "Do you think she's made it?"

The general sighed. "I know she has. I can feel that too."

"Good," Poe said gently, turning to leave. "Goodnight general."

"Goodnight Poe." Once Poe was gone, Leia smiled to herself. She had never seen her best pilot so affected before. She might have been more concerned if it had started to affect his skills and leadership, but it hadn't. With fondness she recalled the longing she had felt for Han when they were fighting the Empire. She recognized the same feeling in Poe. Leia knew Rey could bring Poe happiness. It was just something else that Leia was more concerned that she bring back from Ahch-To.

* * *

Rey had always considered herself physically fit. It was a hard life she lived on Jakku. Scavenging took her to physical limits she never thought a human could have. But even that could not have prepared her for the rigors of Jedi training. She carried buckets of water up and down the treacherous steps of the island. She ran them again and again, strengthening her leg muscles.

Luke had made a point of feeding Rey more than she'd ever grown accustomed to. He explained that if she was to put on muscle, she would need to eat more than quarter portion rations and bread. So, Rey began to put on more weight, and put on more muscle.

Just as her body started to adapt to its new purpose, her mind also was stretched to its limits. Luke taught her how to meditate, how to move objects with the Force. He taught her the basics of lightsaber combat. Luke complimented her technique, but commented that she would need to adapt her fighting style to that of a single blade rather than a staff, or construct her own lightsaber staff.

"How do I do that?" Rey asked, her interest piqued. Though Luke's blue bladed lightsaber felt right in her hand, it did not feel quiet as natural as a staff. If she could alter it in some way, she wanted to consider it.

"Creating a lightsaber is not an easy task," Luke had told her, giving her a bowl of stew with unidentified hunks of meat in it. "It takes days of meditation. Crystals over which you meditate. And you must form the mechanical base for it."

"Is that what you did with that one?" Rey inclined her head to the green bladed lightsaber at his waist.

"Yes," he said simply. "We will continue to train using my old lightsaber. After we complete your training, we will consider which weapon is best for you. If you choose to make your own… there are crystals here on Ahch-To. It is, after all, the First Jedi Temple."

"Here?" Rey's eyes lit up. She nearly choked on the stew she had been eating.

"It's very dangerous, Rey," Luke warned. "That is considered part of the rite, for a padawan who becomes a Jedi. The journey to acquire the crystals is considered part of the challenge. You are not ready yet."

"Yes, Master Luke," Rey responded. She had proved to be a very compliant student. Then again, most of Luke's requests had been reasonable, and Rey was very motivated to succeed. At night sometimes she dreamt of her fight with Kylo Ren.

Luke would also wake with her, for he saw what she saw. It happened every time she dreamt. She would wake up in a cold sweat, and walk out into the night air to find Luke already sitting on a rock, waiting for her. Waiting to give her another talk.

A talk much like she would receive that night.

This time, she was in his interrogation chair. She had been shocked to find that beneath his mask, he wasn't just some ugly creature. Caught off her guard, he was free to invade her mind. She felt the Force flowing through her, and she pushed back. How had she learned to do that?

"You're a very intuitive girl, Rey," Luke said, legs crossed atop the rock, face inclined to the night sky and its thousands of stars. "But it wasn't intuition that guided you through the Force."

"What was it?" she asked, relishing in the cold breeze on her hot skin and sweaty clothing.

"A Force bond," Luke admitted reluctantly. "It's common among a Master and padawan. It allows for easier training. It's why I wake when you have these dreams."

" _We_ have a Force bond?"

"Yes. We do. But it seems that you also have one with Ben." Luke never used the name Kylo Ren. He hadn't explained to her why that was.

"With _him_? That monster?" Rey's face contorted in disgust.

"I taught him well, Rey. It's clear that he's grown stronger since the massacre at my academy."

"But, I don't want a Force bond with him," she protested.

"A Force bond is not easily broken, my young padawan. All the same, they are not easily formed, either. That is why the speed at which you formed even the smallest of bonds with Ben is troubling."

Rey ran her hand through her loose hair in contemplation.

"To break a bond, your feelings for that person have to undergo change. My bond with Ben was broken in this way. The question then before us, Rey, is… how _do_ you feel about Ben?"

"Disgusted," she said immediately. "How he could do that to Han. To your padawans. I'll never understand."

"And yet," Luke prompted.

Rey did not want Luke to lead her down this road. But she had known that it would go this way eventually. "He wasn't cruel to me. There was something about the way he treated me that was almost… reverential?"

"Ben was always a respectful young man. It's why I just couldn't believe he was capable of such an atrocity. It's very likely that Ben respects you. I don't know why, Rey. I don't want it to disturb you too much. Nor should you fear it. Fear is a Jedi's worst enemy."

"Fear is the path to the Dark side," Rey reiterated.

"Rey, we've been training now for a month." Had it been that long? Rey had lost all sense of time on Ahch-To. "I wonder… what do you remember of your family?"

Thrown off her guard, Rey sputtered, "why do you ask that?"

"Your… Force sensitivity. As you know, it tends to run in families. What do you remember of your family?"

Rey's heart rate quickened. It was such a closely guarded secret. The image of her tally marks flashed in her mind as she recalled how long she'd been waiting. Twelve years.

"I was so young when they left me," she said quietly. "But it's like there's a block. I can hear their voices, and I can see the shape of them, but it's fuzzy. A man left me on Jakku. I know that much."

Luke paused a moment. "Rey, it is possible to erase memories from someone's mind using the Force. You were very young, so it would have been very easy."

"But why?"

"Because of who you are." Luke uncrossed his legs and stepped down from his rock. He came to Rey's, where she remained seated. "There's a reason you can't remember. I had wanted to wait to tell you, but transparency is best with circumstances as they are with the First Order."

"Tell me what?" Rey was now scared. So much confusion, so much ignorance over the years, had actually turned into a blanket of comfort. Now that she came to it, she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Luke reached his hand out and gently grabbed one of her hands with his, the comforting gesture of a mentor. "Who your parents are, Rey."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

* * *

Leia Organa sat at an empty computer station, poring over the contents of the box retrieved from Naboo. She had gone to great lengths to acquire such an item. The mansion itself had been plundered of many of its luxuries, but the servants pledged to the family vowed to stay behind to guard what remained. The old man had handed the box over to Leia, "as a means of atonement for the deeds of the past," he had said. "My mistress would have wished you to have it."

So, Leia sat, drinking her third cup of caf in the night, reading over the journals. She felt as if remnants of the Dark clung to the pages. It made her hands feel dirty. But in them she found a wealth of knowledge that Luke himself probably did not have. It would create a tactical advantage for them.

 _Ysalamir_. The word came up again and again. The more Leia read, the more confused she had become. They were animals. But by her interpretation, the Emperor both feared the ysalamiri, and considered them valuable.

 _"… Repels the Light and Dark alike… must be prudent and careful…"_ The handwriting was nearly illegible. _"Transportation beyond Myrkr unsuccessful."_

 _Myrkr_. Leia had never heard of it. That didn't mean that no one else in the Resistance hadn't. But with the possibility of information reaching the First Order, Leia would have to exercise extreme caution in her search for information. She needed someone she could trust. She needed someone who she could rely on. Aside from Han, she could only think of one person. Poe Dameron.

* * *

To say that Supreme Leader Snoke was not kind to Kylo Ren after Starkiller would be an understatement. Kylo Ren withstood his punishment impressively. His body was already broken by the Resistance scum, so Snoke didn't bother. It was his mind that he had to break now. Snoke tore through Kylo's thoughts with reckless abandon, and left no thought or memory unchecked.

"Your weakness for the girl is what cost us our final victory," he had said, bearing down on Kylo, who knelt on the ground in front of him, unable to stand any longer. The throne room was completely empty, a black marble mausoleum with ceilings three stories high. Snoke rarely left his crypt-like court. There would be no witnesses to the torture Kylo Ren would undergo.

"She could have been an asset, Supreme Leader," Kylo managed to say through clenched jaws. His words came in bursts, punctuated by his heavy breathing.

"You will tell me why you treated her as you did, or I will tear it from your mind," Snoke warned, his crooked fingers curled and pointed at him.

"She…" Kylo panted. He was desperate for the intrusion to stop. "I knew of a girl when I was with Luke Skywalker. A girl whose family was strong with the Force. She never made it to the academy. I thought…" Kylo looked up at the Supreme Leader. "I thought she might be that girl."

Snoke grew quiet. His cloudy eyes widened in knowing realization.

"It can't be," he said. He turned away slightly, releasing Kylo fully from his interrogation. Kylo heaved in relief. "They were supposed to be dead."

"I thought so too, Master," Kylo shook his head. "But it makes sense. It _all_ makes sense. She couldn't be just some scavenger from a wasteland planet. Not with power like that."

"If what you say is true, Kylo," Snoke groused, "then I must have her. At all costs."

"Yes, Supreme Leader," he said. Kylo stood, legs shaking. He had healed in a bacta tank for a few days, but still wore the scar that Rey gave him, which stretched from his chest, across his face, and up to his hairline. He no longer felt physical pain, but the intrusions would leave him weak and shaky.

He always waited until he was in his own quarters before he vomited. No one else in he First Order was able to withstand the Supreme Leader's mental probes as Kylo Ren was. Even still, it left him weak for hours.

He laid there on his bed, his outer layers stripped off, leaving him in his undershirt and pants. Once his shaking stopped, he sat up, calmly giving orders into a comlink. He was going to do as the Supreme Leader instructed. But he had been going about it all wrong the last time. He couldn't trap the girl and take her back to a First Order base like a rabbit. No, he would have to be smarter this time.

* * *

"Where?" Poe nearly coughed as he drank his caf in the morning on Felucia, an hour before the sun rose. General Organa and Admiral Akbar stood in front of him, their arms crossed.

"Myrkr," Leia repeated. "Have you heard of it?"

"I…" Poe hesitated. He had heard of it. But it was the stuff of nightmares. The worst of the crime element in the galaxy sometimes used the planet for smuggling, but since the First Order rose to power, and since trade regulations were lifted under the New Republic, it had largely disappeared from the conversation of pirates and smugglers.

"I have," he said. He pushed his own reservations aside, and let the general continue.

"We think there's something there. Something that could be used against the First Order. And Snoke."

"A weapon? On Myrkr?"

"Not quite, Commander." Leia shook her head. "Frankly, we don't know exactly what it is. The Emperor wrote about something quiet extensively in one of his journals. Something called an ysalamir. If he feared it, and also revered it, so much, it must be looked into. Until we hear from Luke and Rey… We must proceed as if they aren't coming back."

A pit grew inside Poe's stomach. He didn't want to entertain the idea that Rey would not be coming back. But the general had a point.

"I'll do what ever you need me to, General, and Admiral."

Admiral Akbar spoke, his tone raspy. "Excellent. Put together a team and go to Myrkr to find these ysalamiri. Find out what they are, and what they do."

Poe put his team together fairly quickly, and quietly. The first person he went to was Finn, who was walking as if nothing had ever happened to him on Starkiller.

"I wouldn't ask just anyone," Poe said. He hated to put people in dangerous situations, but he couldn't think of a single person whose loyalty hadn't been proven quite like Finn's. Sure, there were plenty of good fighters, pilots, and soldiers who could fill his shoes, but Finn brought something else to the table that couldn't be taught.

"And I wouldn't let you go alone," Finn added with a smirk.

* * *

Poe Dameron walked into Mos Eisley Cantina looking for one person. He knew that she would be there. Known only as Lazara, the woman who ran the black market on Mos Eisley looked just about as out of place as a wampa in the desert. She was glamorous and polished. She looked as if she'd never even seen the harsh daylight of Tatooine.

Her porcelain skin contrasted sharply with her black hair and blue eyes that only slightly betrayed her age. Only a few men had made the unwise decision to try to win her over. She'd been known to break a man's hand just for complimenting her beauty. She knew exactly how beautiful she was, but she wasn't out to find love. Years as a slave had hardened her, and she had no interest in gaining power through her beauty.

All of this would have scared most men off from approaching Lazara in such dangerous times. The criminals in the galaxy were getting twitchy. They no longer wanted to deal with the Resistance. With the New Republic eliminated, they were back to their old tricks, but fearful of punishment from the New Order. But since Poe had singlehandedly saved her from the slave trade, he figured she would be willing to hear him out.

She caught sight of him the moment he walked into the Cantina. Her icy exterior seemed to crack for a moment as Poe caught her eye. She nodded to her burly henchmen as Poe and a dark-skinned man approached her table. They let them pass. Everyone in the Cantina pretended not to watch as Lazara stood, and walked over to Poe to meet him.

She shocked the entire room by greeting him with a kiss on the lips, as if she had done it a million times, and it meant nothing. Poe knew better than to read into it romantically—she was marking him, so that all in the Cantina would know that _this one_ , this man was not to be harmed or messed with. Or they would have Lazara to deal with.

"I never thought I'd see you back here," Lazara said quietly. She would not be using Poe's name tonight. She respected him too much to let anyone in the Cantina know that Poe was worth a high bounty.

They sat, and Lazara turned to Finn, her blue eyes sparking with curiosity. "I won't ask your name dear, but _who_ are _you_? And how do you know my dear friend here?"

"We crossed paths a while back," Finn said, picking up the cue. "I helped him out of a jam."

"He tends to get into those, doesn't he?" she purred, stirring her drink with her well manicured finger, the ice tinkling around in the glass. She drank from it, and set it down with measured movements.

"I won't keep you here longer than you need to be," she said. "What can I do for you?"

Poe leaned forward, and spoke low. "Myrkr. I need to get there. I need the coordinates."

Lazara stopped stirring her drink. "Why do you want to go _there_?" she said, nearly frozen.

"Our business is our own," Poe said. Only he could speak with Lazara that way. "I swear to you it will not interfere with your business, nor will it come back to you."

"I shouldn't think so," she said. "Practically every smuggler knows where it _is_ … only no one ever wants to go there _anymore_." She looked back and forth from Poe to his unidentified friend. She shot them a skeptical look. "There's only one reason someone like you would want to go to Myrkr."

"What reason is that, Lazara?" Poe asked, guiding her.

"The ysalamiri," she said, nearly a whisper. "You foolish boy… Pretty, but so foolish."

"What can you tell me about them?" Poe asked eagerly.

For the first time in a long time, Poe could see fear register in Lazara's face. "Those stories about Myrkr… most of them are tall-tales. Scary stories to tell your children so they don't get any ideas of running off and becoming a pirate." She paused to take a long swig of her drink. "They were carefully orchestrated to keep the truth from circulating. You see, the Emperor knew of a great weapon on the planet that could singlehandedly wipe out the Jedi. It would render them powerless to fight back."

"It was Vader who helped execute Order 66. He and the clones… I've never heard of any weapon."

"That's because they couldn't figure out how to get it off the planet. I think that even if the Emperor had gotten the ysalamiri off Myrkr, it would have rendered him powerless too."

"How?" Poe couldn't believe his ears.

"The ysalamiri are tree creatures that repel the Force. Some sort of evolutionary process. But if someone with Force sensitivity gets within twenty feet of one of them, it's like turning off the switch. The Emperor couldn't risk losing his powers, or Vader losing his. So he created the lore so the Jedi wouldn't be able to use them either."

"But if the Emperor isn't a factor anymore… why are you acting like you're so afraid of it?"

"Do you think that Snoke doesn't know they exist? He knows, but he's never needed to use them because there were no Jedi. Kylo Ren saw to that. And if he finds out that you're trying to get ysalamiri off the planet, you can bet that it will bring the entire First Order down on you."

"And you." Poe understood.

"Yes. If I tell you how to get them off that planet, that leaves about five people who actually know how. It wouldn't be hard for him to pick us off."

"Lazara, I wouldn't come to you if it wasn't important."

Lazara clicked her fingers on the table nervously. She sucked her teeth a moment, and looked around the Cantina. Suddenly she stood up and looked down at Poe and Finn, taking on an offended air. "I'm afraid I can't help you. You'll just have to ask someone else." Then she made to leave, making sure to subtly squeeze Poe's shoulder as she left.

Poe smiled to himself.

"Great," Finn huffed. "You wouldn't happen to have any other crime lord friends, would you?"

Poe dropped his voice. "We won't need any. Let's get to the ship. She'll be there."

* * *

 **AN: Oh my, what thoughtful and flattering reviews! 'onmytoes', you really have made me feel great! In a perfect world I would be hired on as a writer for Star Wars universe books, but alas, my foray into FanFiction hasn't quite paid off yet. I'm glad that you're settling into it easy, and buying into my little story. It means I'm doing something right.**

 **Ok, a word about Myrkr and the ysalamiri. They actually are canon, in the EU books. If you have read the Thrawn trilogy, there will obviously be some inconsistencies and deviances, but I really liked the idea of the ysalamiri, so I just had to include them.**

 **And yes, I'm publishing quite quickly, but I've been fairly motivated and inspired. Your reviews, follows and favorites are just so great, and I read each one of them, so thank you.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

* * *

The stars were distorted. Her vision blurred. She could practically hear her heart hammering out of her chest, it was pounding so hard. Her hands grew numb, and she began to breathe heavily. She had been standing on the rocky ground when he told her, but now she didn't even think she could support herself. She leaned against the rocky side of the mountain, and slunk down to her knees.

Immediately, Luke snapped to attention, and knelt down in front of her.

Her breath was now coming sharply, and she didn't think she could control it anymore. Tears streamed silently down her face and glinted in the moonlight.

"Rey," Luke said, tilting her chin up with his fingers. "Breathe, like I taught you." Luke mimicked the Jedi breathing technique. At first she did nothing, but with great effort, she caught on, and within a minute, her breath had slowed. Still, she felt too shaky to stand.

"That can't be true," she said. She could feel her stomach turning. She thought she may be sick. Luke smoothed her hair with one of his hands and touched her cheek with his thumb. Through the Force he calmed her, bringing her down enough to stop her tears.

" _I can't be like him_ ," she pleaded. " _Please_ tell me I'm not like him."

"You are not." Luke sincerely believed it. "Rey, the Emperor cannot make you do anything you do not want to do. He is gone."

"But how can you be sure? That it won't come out in me?" Rey searched Luke's blue eyes in the pale moonlight.

He breathed a moment. "I have every reason to believe you favor one grandfather over the other. And the one I believe you favor," Luke smiled sadly, "was the most honorable and noble man I ever knew."

"And he—" she swallowed. "He taught you?"

Luke nodded, and pulled Rey to his chest in an embrace. They stayed like that for several minutes, Luke holding Rey and using his influence over her to calm her. He wished he could take all of her doubt and pain away, but he couldn't. It would be a struggle for Rey to come to terms with who her grandfathers were. For her to have been conceived of both the Light and the Dark was unheard of. What it meant for Rey, he did not yet know.

Luke knew both of her parents. He knew that they were both good Jedi. Luke had every reason to believe that any of the evil that Palpatin carried in his veins could not touch Rey now. But still, her heritage could not be denied.

He would have to watch her very closely.

When she had calmed down enough, Luke brought her back inside, and made her tea. She sat on the floor, her arms wrapped around her legs. After a long silence, Rey spoke.

"How is it possible that their children… my parents… were together? Of all the people in the galaxy?"

"It is a very long story, Rey. It is very late, and you must be rested for your training in the morning."

"No," Rey said. She was resolute. "I want to know now. And if that means I can't train tomorrow, then that's what it means. I need to know."

Luke sighed, crossing his arms and gazing into the embers of the fire that he had just stoked. "Very well."

Luke began speaking with his face to the fire, so that Rey only saw half of him.

"Obi-Wan was my mentor. In the time that he was alive, I had no idea that he had a child. He watched me grow up, from afar. By the time he revealed he had a wife and a son, they were no longer on Tatooine. Obi-Wan came to me through the Force—as I have told you is possible."

"Does he still come to you?" Rey asked, hopefully.

"No. No, apparition through the Force is not a natural occurrence. It was time for Obi-Wan to become one with the Force, but before he did, he asked that I seek out his son and train him. I did. And he was a wonderful student. Not much younger than me, in fact. We were very good friends."

Luke looked over at Rey. "You look very much like your mother though."

"Was she… Dark? Like her father?"

Luke looked back at the embers. "No. She was more reckless, that much was true, but she was not of the Dark side. No, I think that after her father died, she wanted to undo the deeds of the past. Her father kept her a secret from those around him. Kept her hidden on Naboo, but trained her in the ways of the Dark side nonetheless. She sought me out after Endor. Wanted to help me rebuild the Jedi."

"Did she?"

The corner of Luke's mouth twitched in either a smile or in sadness, Rey couldn't tell which. "Yes. And that's where she fell in love with your father."

"What were," Rey's lips began to twitch, threatening her composure. "What were their names?" She covered her mouth in disbelief that she had to ask such a question.

"Reyna was your mother. Ferrus was your father."

"Reyna? I'm named after her?"

"Yes, although when I had heard you were born, your name was Reyna as well, not Rey."

"We never met?"

"No," Luke gave up standing, and sat on the wicker chair in front of Rey. "Your parents had you on Naboo. You were to come to me to train just before Ben betrayed us. But something happened, and your parents left you on Jakku."

"What happened?"

"I do not know, Rey," Luke said, truthfully. "Your mother died some time before your father came here to Ahch-To. He died shortly after he arrived, of his wounds. They did what they did to keep you safe. Alive. Whoever did that to them must have wanted you dead too."

" _They_ did it. They took my memories from me," the reality sobered Rey. "What did they want me to forget?"

"I don't know, Rey. They certainly didn't want you to forget them, but I am sure they thought your safety was most important. They loved you very much. They must have weighed the options, and determined it was best that you not remember."

Rey was quiet a moment, drinking her tea that had cooled significantly. She set it down. "When you found out that Vader was your father… how could you bear it?"

Luke regarded his padawan. "I knew there was still good in him. I had to believe it, or I don't know if I would have survived facing the Emperor."

"You must take solace, Rey," Luke continued, "in the fact that despite your mother's parentage, she was good. And you must find solace in the fact that you are a Kenobi. Let that side guide you."

"You're not afraid I will go down the path that Kylo… _Ben_ did?"

"I think every Jedi is tempted by the Dark side at some point in their lives. I believe you already have been, and I believe you succeeded in resisting Ben's offer to teach you. You came to me. That speaks volumes." Luke smiled, and rubbed at his eyes. "I think that is enough for the evening, don't you?"

"Yes," Rey said soberly. "I suppose you're right." Rey stood, and bid her teacher good night as she disappeared into the small alcove in the back of the altar room. As she lay on her cot, she thought briefly of Chewie and Artoo down on level ground, guarding the Millennium Falcon. She felt guilty that they had been down there so long, but Chewie said he did not mind the rest.

Rey thought briefly about running to the Falcon and leaving Ahch-To, hiding somewhere in the galaxy. But she knew her place was with Luke until he believed her training was over. Her last thought before sleep took her was that she didn't know how in the galaxy she would ever be ready for what awaited her off Ahch-To.

* * *

 **AN: As always, thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites! If you're so inclined, feel free to follow my writing blog on tumblr: beneath-a-western-sky**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

* * *

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Finn's voice wavered. He surveyed the nutrient frame with suspicion.

"Lazara says it will, so I assume that it will," Poe said, regarding the tree-like frame that was built for transporting the ysalamiri. "It doesn't seem like the thing to lie about, if you're going to lie about anything."

They were on board their ship, the Iron Mountain, which was inconspicuous in First Order space. Though Myrkr was far out of First Order control. In fact, it was far out of the control of the New Republic, when it wasn't in ruins. Myrkr had become a forgotten planet. With a small pinch of dread, Poe wondered what would be lurking down on the forested planet.

He knew that vornskrs grew rabid and wild in the forest. They were a type of Force-sensitive, dog-like creature, but four times the size of a man, and four times as mean. The ysalamiri had adapted their Force-blocking power as a means of warding off the vornskrs. There was only one planet that held the ysalamiri, and it could possibly have been the first mission for which Poe actually found himself afraid.

When the Iron Mountain landed, Poe, Finn and two other Resistance fighters left the ship, and set out in search of the lizard-like creatures that stretched nearly three feet from the tip of their tail to the tip of their nose.

Lazara had said that they would know when they reached the Olbio trees, the trees that the ysalamiri would sink their claws into and draw nutrients from. She said that when the forest grew quiet, they would find them.

And find them they did. They peered up at the ancient-looking trees, and beheld branch after branch with nearly camouflaged lizards, whose claws bored into the bark. The transportable nutrient packs they were each outfitted with weighed upwards of twenty pounds, but would carry two ysalamiri per pack. Judging by the trees, there would be enough to bring back to Felucia.

Once Poe climbed one of the trees, he found that the ysalamiri were unusually tame and calm. He coaxed them easily from the branches, but it was the moments after this that were most crucial, according to Lazara. The ysalamiri must take to the nutrient frame quickly, or be returned to the branch. The first ysalamir he tried did not take to the frame, so quickly the animal was returned, and another was picked up. Within the hour, each man had two ysalamiri on their nutrient pack, and headed for the Iron Mountain.

It was when they were unloading the animals onto the permanent structure that Finn looked at Poe ruefully. "That was a little too easy, don't you think?"

"Yes," Poe admitted. His jaw clenched. "But we don't have the time to question it. We've got our orders."

* * *

"Quickly," Kylo said to his second in command, the Knight of Ren named Tersius, "and make it believable."

"Kylo, don't make me do this," Tersius pleaded. The man with umber-hued skin and chest-length dreadlocks looked at his commander with remorse.

"That's an order." Kylo was firm in his command.

Without another word, Tersius's fist collided with Kylo's cheekbone, sending him back against the window that overlooked a thousand stars in the blackness of space.

"Kylo Ren, you are under arrest for espionage and crimes against the First Order. You are to be brought before Supreme Leader Snoke where you will await your judgment."

Two other Knights of Ren approached Kylo to put him in manacles, but Kylo raised his arm, and stopped them in their tracks. He had to put on a show for the fifteen storm troopers that stood watching them in the cargo hold of the star destroyer. With the two Knights subdued, Tersius advanced on Kylo again, and drove his fist even harder into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. On the ground, Tersius was able to confiscate the red lightsaber from Kylo.

With his hold on the two knights broken, they were able to pick him up off the floor, each of them getting a blow in, splitting Kylo's lip. When he thought his resistance had looked believable enough, Kylo mustered all the strength of the Dark side he had, and force choked the lot of them. Taking off at a run, Kylo dodged the blaster fire coming from the storm troopers.

When he was securely in his own ship, Kylo tore out of the hangar by immediately jumping into hyperspace, leaving the First Order in chaos, and the Knights of Ren in silent remorse for what they had been made to do.

* * *

The base at Felucia was in disarray. X-wing pilots were at the ready, circling the sky above, watching for incoming TIE-fighters. Little did they know that no TIE-fighters would be following Kylo Ren's ship into Felucia's orbit. Less than a minute after Kylo Ren's ship had been given permission to land under the condition of his surrender, a squad of fifty soldiers surrounded the ship with blasters trained on every crevice of the command shuttle.

General Organa had ordered that he be allowed to land, and surrender. Even Admiral Ackbar had given her a second glance, but trusting her judgment, he said nothing to overrule her order.

Doctor Kalonia stood ready for her part in Kylo Ren's surrender. The syringe she had prepared would sedate Kylo Ren for nearly six hours per dose. Without the ysalamiri on the planet yet, the Resistance was vulnerable to Kylo Ren's use of the Force. The decision had been made to sedate him until Poe and his team returned with the animals.

Poe had sent communication to the base relaying all that he knew about the creatures, and Leia had given orders to secure a small number of them. By her calculation, Poe would be back in about 12 hours, at which time, they would relocate their base to a new planet, just in case Kylo had a tracker on his ship.

Leia could not have prepared herself for what she saw when her son Ben stepped off his ship. His face was bruised and battered, bearing several fresh cuts. Besides his fresh bruises, he now had a scar across his face that made Leia tear up. As he walked closer to Leia, who stood waiting for him, she noticed that he was slightly bowed over, and he clutched his arm to his stomach. She would find out soon enough who had beaten him before his surrender.

The entire squadron had their weapons drawn on Kylo. He could deflect one or two blast fires, but not fifty. Several men were sent into the ship to scan it for people or tracking devices. Leia approached her son.

"General, I have come to offer my surrender," Kylo spoke with such detachment an outsider would not have taken him for Leia's son.

Swallowing her emotions, Leia resisted the urge to reach out and grab her son, whom she had not seen in twelve years. She put on the façade of the general, and addressed the man before her.

"Your surrender is accepted," Leia looked him over once more. She could feel his strength. She could feel the Dark side coming off him in waves. "You will understand, but we must sedate you for a time before you can expect your hearing before the council."

Kylo's face tensed. Without a word, he removed his arm braces and lifted his sleeve enough to grant access to his veins. When Doctor Kalonia approached him, he could sense her fear. He resisted the temptation to probe her mind. As the needle was pushed into his vein, he noticed the stretcher that was intended for him. Before the medication had the chance to take effect, he smiled at Leia.

"It's good to see you too, mother."

* * *

"Are you sure this will work?" the man's voice asked, distantly, as if in a far-off place in Kylo's mind.

"Yes," the female responded. "I can't feel anything myself. It works."

When his eyes opened, he had to squint against the artificial brightness of the room he was in. His wrists, he soon found, were manacled, and about one ankle was a chain that kept him tethered to a white stone wall. The bed he awoke on was basic, with just a pillow, sheets and a single wool blanket.

After he made an assessment of his physical condition, Kylo searched for the owners of the voices.

Of course, he would find that they belonged to none other than Poe Dameron and Leia Organa. He quickly attempted to shake off his grogginess. Normally, it was fairly easy for Kylo to recover after being knocked out. He could heal through the Force. But now, it wasn't going so smoothly. It must have been a very strong dose of sedative, Kylo concluded.

"Ben," Leia addressed her son, from one side of a glass partition. Her voice was carried through to Kylo's side through a two-way intercom. "Who did this to you? Why have you surrendered?"

Kylo stood from his bed, and shuffled over to the glass. He rested a hand on it, supporting himself.

"I blew my cover," he said with a dry chuckle.

"Your cover?" Leia squinted.

"How do you think your informant got information? Knew when to tell you to change bases?"

"You?" Leia asked, in disbelief.

Kylo nodded, feeling at his split lip. He would have to focus harder to heal himself once the sedative wore off. "Turns out I'm not as good at keeping secrets as I thought. I just barely made it out of the destroyer."

He blinked a few more times, and his vision began to clear. Beside his mother, he could see Poe Dameron, the cocky pilot, in his flight suit, his arms crossed defiantly, his jaw set firmly. His eyes bore into Kylo with a fierceness that he understood completely.

Kylo took a breath and pushed with his mind, attempting to read Poe. Nothing. Kylo shook his head, and leaned closer to the glass.

"You'll get nowhere with that, Ren," Poe said cockily. "See those things, over there?" He nodded towards the tall structure in the corner of the room, on their side of the glass. On it were eight large lizard-like creatures with fur and scales. They were hardly moving, save for their occasional blinking.

Kylo remained silent.

"Our little friends here are going to make it so you can't pull any of your tricks. If you're within thirty feet of even one of them, you're powerless. And when more than one get together? The range is even further."

Leia came forward and placed her fingertips on the glass in front of where Kylo's hand was. "You have to understand that we can't take any chances. Not after what you did, Ben," her eyes glistened with tears, thinking of Han. "If it were up to me, you wouldn't be in there, but the council will make you answer for your crimes. Your fate is not in my hands, son."

Kylo's heart began to beat faster. This was not how things were supposed to play out. He expected to be treated with hostility, perhaps even violence, but to be crippled so much was not a part of his plan. He looked at his surroundings. The small room he was in, enclosed by stone and glass would be virtually impossible to escape. The chain about his ankle would not allow him to approach the door, which stood at least six feet away from his limit.

He would have to gain their trust before the creatures in the corner could be taken out of the picture.

"I don't blame you," Kylo forced himself to say. "That is fair."

"Just the same," Leia said, backing out of the room. "I hope for your sake that you can explain everything. And that it satisfies the council." Leia, unable to wear the badge of the diplomat any longer, removed herself from the room, leaving Poe standing before the glass, his arms still crossed in defiance.

The two men stood before each other, sizing the other up. This time the power dynamic was flipped so far upside down, Kylo wasn't sure he would be able to keep up the charade.

Poe approached the glass slowly, and stopped when he was a foot from the partition.

"I'm not buying your shit for a second, Ren," Poe said. "No matter what web of lies you spin for the council, I see right through you."

Kylo remained silent, and smiled to himself. Poe turned and made to walk out the doorway, when Kylo stopped him in his tracks.

"The girl," he said. "She's with Luke, isn't she?"

Poe turned, trying to hide his anger. "Afraid she'll surpass you, Ren? You must be, sporting that scar. And I'm here to make sure that you don't get within ten feet of her ever again."

"You and I both know she won't stay away for long. We're bonded now, you see. She'll seek me out."

"Not with those things near you," he turned and looked at the ysalamiri. Poe took a deep breath, and forced himself to not engage any more with Kylo. He said the words, but even he wasn't convinced. He didn't know what Kylo meant by a bond. As he made his way through the labyrinth of underground tunnels, Poe hoped that he could keep his mind occupied enough that he couldn't dwell on it too long. He hoped that Rey would return soon, that he might put Ren's words behind him.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

* * *

Four buckets. It was four buckets that Rey carried up the stone steps of Ahch-To, twice a day. The yoke slung over her shoulders had hardened her muscles in the two months that had passed since she started her training with Luke Skywalker. When two buckets of water a day no longer caused her legs to shake, Luke had added two more. And when that no longer made her shake, the second trip was added.

If Rey were any other student, she would have hated it. She would have resented Luke for it. But it was a fire burning deep within her that made her press on. It forced her to quietly accept the challenge, the training. She did question him one night, when they were eating their supper together.

"Why buckets of water?"

Luke had smiled, prodding at his stew with his wooden spoon. "Because, strong though you are, I don't think I'm light enough for you to carry."

Rey's face scrunched in confusion. Luke explained. "Master Yoda. When he trained me on Dagobah… I ran through the forest with him on my back. He was surprisingly heavy for his size. _My_ weight for my size is _unsurprising_." His eyes glittered at his self-deprecating humor.

Luke knew that Rey was close to being ready. Rey was nearly ready to make her climb to get her crystals for her lightsaber staff. He had thought it over for a time before approaching Rey with the idea.

"It's your choice," Luke had said. "You may use my old lightsaber, or you may climb the high point of the island, and harvest the crystals for your lightsaber staff."

Rey was quiet a moment, and then spoke thoughtfully. "I would like to make the climb. I want to be like the Jedi before me. I want to know I can do it."

Luke smiled, closing his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "You need only collect as many crystals as you need for one side. You may use the rest of mine for the other." She accepted his generous offer, her eyes awash in reverence of him.

He was proud of the Jedi she was primed to become. She never chose the easy way out of anything. She accepted challenges. She took direction well. But deep down, Luke knew that there would be even darker challenges in her future. He thought she knew that as well, which was why she was such a willing student. She wanted to fly a straight course, that she might not fall to the Dark side like Ben.

He could sense her fear. He was sure to warn her of the dangers of fear, but forgave her apprehension. He knew she feared her ancestry. Being the granddaughter of Darth Sidious, the Emperor, was enough to scare even the lightest of Jedi. She feared returning to the Resistance base, and the chance that those she respected and cared for would find out who she was, and reject her.

She finally found the family she's been waiting for, but they were gone. Luke vowed to do his best as a surrogate for her. And in his surrogacy, Luke tried continually to remind her of the good that was in her, namely her grandfather, Obi-Wan, and her father, Ferrus Kenobi.

She visited her father's grave nearly every day. It was where she found Luke that first day on Ahch-To. The grave marker, to the naked eye, was just a stone. But with her new knowledge, Rey knelt in front of it and meditated. It was her way of connecting with him. She had hoped that one day, the Force ghost of Ferrus Kenobi might show up. She had hoped he had this power. If he did, Luke did not say, and Ferrus had not revealed it to her.

She knew she was close to her trial, so her time on Ahch-To was nearly up. She just didn't know how close it was exactly.

It was no surprise to Luke, then, that the morning he crossed his arms and told her she would be making her climb, her face drained of all its color.

"M-Master Luke, are you sure? Am I ready for this?" Her voice wavered.

"I can only make you carry so many pails of water, Rey. We can only spar so much. And you can only lift so many stones with the power of the Force. It is time. The Resistance needs us. Needs _you_."

"Needs _me_ …?" Rey questioned quietly. She didn't press the question, with the impending danger ahead of her. She'd had plenty of experience with climbing old star destroyers that lay dead in the sands of Jakku, but there were always fail-safes. Rappelling ropes. Her future as a Jedi never rested on her ability to get to the hard-to-reach scrap pieces.

Taking a steadying breath, Rey stood, and followed Luke wordlessly out of his small temple-turned-hut.

Luke had walked Rey as far as he could before the rocky surface began its stark growth towards the sky. Rey looked up at the wall of the southern side of the island. There were places Rey knew served as footholds for Jedis of years past. This gave her some consolation that others had done it before, so she could do it now. Still, the lump in her throat felt like it was going to choke her.

"How will I know I've reached them?" Rey asked, her eyes fixed on the wall.

Luke breathed a moment. "You'll know. But they will be colorless. Simple retrieval of the crystals isn't enough, Rey. It's the meditation and the intent behind it that gives them their form."

Rey looked at Luke, and nodded. Without another word, she hooked her toe into the first foothold.

* * *

"Ben Solo, you stand accused of multiple counts of murder and treachery," the gruff elderly woman's voice resonated in the amphitheatre, the morning sun peaking from behind one of the many small mountains on one of the moons orbiting Naboo. The new Resistance base being so close to the Core Worlds was a gamble. Having moved bases several times in the Outer Rim, the commanding forces in the Resistance devised a plan that they hoped would pay off. They would bring themselves closer to the First Order, the last place that Snoke or his forces would think to look for the Resistance fighters.

So far, after a month on Felucia, and a month on the Naboo moon, no one had picked up any signs that the First Order was onto them. The next three bases had been picked out already, in the event that they had to flee.

This morning, surrounded by ysalamiri that blocked his abilities with the Dark side of the Force, Kylo Ren would be given his first hearing with the council, ragtag though it was. Kylo recognized three wizened faces in this council—they must have escaped the attack on the Hosnian system. He swallowed and forced himself to dial back the smug look he knew was growing on his face.

The elderly woman continued. "How do you plead?"

"Guilty, Madam Burell," Kylo stated, adjusting his manacled wrists, feeling the cold steel against his skin. He relished in the murmur that spread throughout the audience before him. He would enjoy playing this game with them.

Vee Burell sighed, shaking her head. "Then you understand the consequences of a guilty verdict," she concluded.

"Yes, Madam Burell, but it is my sincerest hope that through this trial you come to understand my guilt, and adjust my sentence accordingly. I don't plan on dying."

"Very well," Vee Burell stated. She lifted her hand, signaling that the hearing was over, and Kylo Ren was quickly flanked by two Resistance fighters with ysalamiri strapped firmly to their backs. One of them held onto his upper arm with such disdain that he wouldn't have been surprised if there were bruises there later. The thought made him smirk even more.

"Commander Dameron," Kylo stated, not bothering to look over at him. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're upset with me."

"I'd advise you to keep your forked tongue behind your teeth, Ren," Poe growled. "Some of us are a little harder to charm, so don't waste your breath."

When Kylo was safely behind the glass of his cell, Poe removed the ysalamiri from both his back and the back of Snap Wexley, securing them again on their nutrient frame in the corner of the prison.

"You seem distracted, Dameron," Kylo said, rubbing his wrists where the manacles had dug into his skin. "I'd hate to think you're not able to perform your duties. What ever would General Organa have to say about this?"

"Thank you for your concern, Ren, what an admirable man you are…" Poe turned unceremoniously to leave the prison, with Snap holding the door for him, and was halted by his com-link beeping at him.

"Dameron," Poe held the device to his mouth, waiting for an answer.

"Report to the landing pad," the voice said. "Out."

Poe sized up Kylo with another glance, holding back his contempt for the man who leaned against the glass, his forearms above his head.

"Duty calls," Kylo taunted, and turned his back on Poe as he made his way out into the bright daylight.

Poe gritted his teeth as he made his way towards the landing pad, Snap on his heels.

"You can't let him get to you like that," he said.

"Haven't got any idea what you're talking about, Snap." Poe didn't slow his pace.

"He's taunting you, and you know it. You let a guy like that get under your skin, and you'll start slipping in your duties. Putting us at risk."

Poe stopped dead in his tracks, and turned on Snap. "You don't really believe that I'm capable of that, do you?" he asked seriously. Snap softened.

"No, brother, but…" Snap held his hands up in defeat. "He found an in with _her_ , and now he's going to continue to get at you. He _wants_ you to slip up."

Poe's lips pressed together in a thin line, and he looked past Snap's shoulder blankly. "Does no one see that he's playing the council? This is all a trap of his making."

"That might be, Poe," Snap said, putting his hand on Poe's shoulder, "but he seems genuinely concerned with the ysalamiri. That's gotta count for something."

"If he is able to spin his lies, and gets out of that cell, how long do you think those animals are going to stick around?"

"I don't know. But we can only take it one day at a time."

The silence that passed between them was enough to satisfy Snap, so he clapped Poe on the shoulder and they both turned a corner around a hangar and made their way to the landing pad. Poe stopped dead in his tracks when he saw, illuminated cheerily by the morning light, the Millenium Falcon parked, its ramp down.

* * *

Rey's hands were sweating, despite the cool air on Ahch-To. Occasionally she would reach a rocky landing where she could sit a while, wipe her hands, and begin the whole process again. There were no stone steps this way, that much was certain. The further up she got, the more she questioned herself. _Can I even do this?_ she would wonder. _If I turn back now, it will be easier to get down than if I keep going._

She shook these thoughts from her head. After a brief moment of meditation, Rey came to the realization that each Jedi who made the climb had gone through the same internal battle. The thought comforted her, and gave her strength to reach the top.

And when she did, she was not disappointed. Within the very side of the mountain, thousands of crystals glittered in the sunlight. There was a landing that appeared to have been carved into the side, deep enough for one or two people to stand. Her knees still shaking from the rush of adrenaline that brought her this far, Rey felt the prickle of tears as her fingers touched a few of the crystals.

After all she had been through with Luke, after all she had learned of the Force, and of who she was, the weight of it came crashing down on her. She felt the mixture of joy and sorrow as she wiped the tears from her face, studying the wall. After this climb, she knew that she would be able to call herself a Jedi. Still, Master Luke's words resonated in her ears, and diligently she plucked three crystals from the wall, and secured them in a pouch tied on her belt. Her work was not done yet.

* * *

Rey fiddled with her lightsaber staff nervously. Luke had taken over the helm of the Millenium Falcon after Rey had flown for a solid eight hours, giving her a moment to rest. They had just left hyperspace, and were entering the atmosphere of one of Naboo's moons. Luke could sense her nervousness, and reached out through the Force, seeking to ease her fears.

When she felt his presence at the front of her mind, Rey relaxed, and took a deep breath.

"I sense confusion, and something else I can't quite place," Rey said thoughtfully, speaking of the Resistance base they were approaching.

"I sense it too," Luke said, nodding. "Leia knows we're here."

Rey swallowed. She had no words for either of them. They would simply have to play out whatever scenario awaited them. Rey was afraid of what the Resistance would make of her parentage, but more than anyone, she worried about Poe's reaction. With his face entering her mind, Rey quickly focused on the handle of her staff, pushing his image from view. She and her master were so finely tuned to each other's emotions that Rey hoped to keep this one thing to herself.

Without Rey noticing, Luke glanced over at his padawan and smiled privately at her. He had picked up bits and pieces about this pilot from his time with Rey. In generations past, Jedi were discouraged from having romantic attachments. When Luke began to revive the Jedi Order, that archaic rule was done away with. As long as love and affection did not impair judgment, Luke encouraged it. Or would have, if the Jedi Order had not been mercilessly slaughtered by his nephew.

Luke was anxious to speak with Leia concerning everything. He had not seen her since he took Ben all those years ago to train him as his padawan. He too had his own fears about their reunion. But his senses told him that he had no reason to fear a reunion between the two of them. It only made him sad.

As they descended into the atmosphere, Rey intercepted communication coming from the Resistance base, and requested permission to land. It was immediately granted, and within ten minutes, they were shutting down the Falcon, and Chewie lowered the ramp.

Rey practically shot up from her chair, and made her way through the Falcon. Luke tarried a while, feeling Leia's presence outside the Falcon. Rey stood at the top of the ramp, waiting for Luke. She could see a throng of people gathering to greet them.

Rey saw Leia standing at the very front, as she knew she would be. When Luke came to her side, she could sense Leia's emotions. She knew how hard she was trying to keep her emotions under control in front of her troops. After glancing at each other for a moment, Rey and Luke silently descended the ramp, and stood in front of Leia and the throng of people. All were quiet.

After a pause, Leia and Luke both stepped forward and into each other's arms in an embrace. Rey felt everything they felt, and for a moment it nearly knocked her flat. With the sting of tears at her own eyes, she knew then how much it meant that these two were finally together again. They shared a womb, and a bond through the Force that no one could understand. Quickly, Rey wiped a solitary tear from her eyes, hoping no one noticed.

Leia and Luke broke their grip on each other, taking a step back to look at one another. Luke put his hand on the side of Leia's face lovingly. Finally, he spoke to her.

"I'm sorry," he said, barely a whisper. Leia shook her head.

"None of that matters now. You're here. That's what matters."

Luke nodded, and finally looked at the faces of those around them. "We have much to talk about then, don't we?" he said, and Leia smiled at the understatement.

"Let's get inside. There is much that has happened since Rey left," Leia said, her voice heavy. Leia turned on Rey, and addressed her. " _Thank you_ … for bringing my brother home to me."

Rey blushed slightly and nodded. Leia and Luke turned and walked towards the bunker. Rey fell slightly behind, scanning the crowd, looking for Poe. Disappointment began to set in the longer she couldn't find him.

Just as she had begun to think he wouldn't show, Poe nudged his way through the people walking the opposite direction of him, and stopped in his tracks when his eyes met Rey's from twenty feet away. She licked her lips and stood nervously on the spot.

Without hesitation, Poe walked the twenty feet to stand in front of her. When he was arm's length away, looking down into her hazel eyes (had he forgotten they were hazel? And had he forgotten how beautiful they were?), he found that he hadn't the slightest idea what to say to her. Rey licked her lips slightly, pulling at the strap of her bag over her chest. Before she had time to react, Poe placed both his hands gently on the top of her neck, and leaned down, pausing when his lips were a breath from hers.

He gauged her reaction. She was frozen, but had not pulled back from him. She wondered deep down if she had the courage to close the distance between them, but before she had time to act, Poe's lips were on hers. She felt that in that moment she might combust. All sound and sight around her melted away, and there was only the two of them. Tentatively, Rey returned the kiss, which was gentle and exploratory.

Just as she had allowed herself to kiss him back, Poe pulled back from her, causing her to make a slight sound as she sighed. Poe ran his thumb gently along the curve of Rey's ear.

With a playful, yet relieved, gleam in his eye, Poe smiled at Rey, and broke the silence. "Welcome back."

* * *

 **AN: A thousand apologies for my delayed update. I had to finish finals (teacher), pack up more of my belongings for my move across country, and once I got to my new home, we hadn't set up internet. I was stuck without internet for a while. And now I'm finally able to access the internet. So, I was waiting for inspiration to hit, because I really don't want to force a story, but I told myself I just need to get back on the horse, and here we are. I hope that this meets your expectations. I appreciate all the new favorites, the reviews, the nice comments. They give me inspiration to continue writing, so don't hesitate to let me know what you all think. Cheers!**


	12. Chapter 12

Rey stood in front of Poe, swaying on the balls of her feet as she reeled from their kiss. It certainly wasn't the greeting she had expected, but it was a greeting that Rey found that she liked. She looked down at Poe's chest, smiling and blushing in response.

He chuckled to himself, as did she.

"Should we…" Rey started, looking back up at Poe's deep brown eyes.

"Yeah, we should probably follow. The council will want to speak with Luke. And," Poe swallowed his words a moment, and his face grew dark, "there's something else."

Rey searched his face. "What? Is it Finn, is something wrong?"

Poe shook his head. "No, Finn is fine. Great, in fact, and walking. But it's Kylo Ren, Rey."

Rey swallowed in disbelief. Was he alive after all?

"What about him?" She didn't want to hear the answer.

"He surrendered. On his own. We had his hearing earlier today. He's being charged with murder and treason."

" _As well he should be_ ," Rey said, almost yelling it.

"I know, I agree with you. But he's going to plead his case to the council. No doubt he has some story, some web he's weaving. I don't trust him."

"Nor do I!" Rey said, her breath now coming faster. She was very nearly losing her composure. She hadn't considered the possibility that she would have to face him so soon. After what he did to Han and Finn, and _her_ … "Has he done anything while he's been here?"

"No," Poe said, taking Rey's hand in his, gently leading her away from the Falcon. She followed reluctantly. "And that's the other thing. I don't have time to explain it all right now, but your power with the Force," Poe paused. They had never quite come out and exactly addressed her power, and doing so for the first time felt oddly stilted.

"You won't be able to use it around him. And he around you."

"How is that possible?" Rey wondered quickly if Luke knew, if Leia had told him.

"It's these little animals, they have this sort of… anti-Force power. We know the Emperor had considered using them at one point. And when we found this out, we decided to use them to our advantage."

Rey stopped in her tracks, her blood draining from her face. "The Emperor?" Rey felt as if her voice was miles away, detached from her body somehow.

Poe considered Rey's reaction, finding it oddly panicked.

"Leia made the call. It will all make sense soon. Or, I hope it does. But the point is, they're making it so Ren doesn't try anything. That's what matters right now."

Poe gave Rey's hand a gentle squeeze in reassurance. Steeling herself for what was to come, Rey followed Poe's lead yet again. She wondered for a moment when she might feel the absence of the Force, and before she had time to anticipate it, it was simply _gone_. Her ties to the Force were stamped out like a wildfire in a rainstorm.

Her breath caught, and she gripped Poe's hand for support.

He looked over at her, observing her as she felt the presence of the ysalamiri. He led her to the underground bunker where all the technicians were diligently monitoring the moon's atmosphere for any First Order attacks. They passed through the main hub of the base where technicians and fighters alike tried to hide their staring.

Rey could feel their eyes on her, and wanted nothing more than to get out. With a great deal of relief, Poe continued to lead her through the bowels of the Resistance hideout and into an inner chamber, where there already was a very tense meeting underway.

The room looked like a small amphitheater, with seats in a perfect circle around a recessed landing. Little did Rey know, but this was the very spot that Kylo Ren was to be tried for his crimes in the days to follow. For now, it was a meeting place for the top members of the Resistance: the council, the generals and admirals, and upper-ranking officers.

They appeared to be walking in on an already intense discussion.

Leia was speaking. "We found the journals, and gleaned enough information that led us to believe that the ysalamiri were worth looking into," she said directly to Luke, who sat next to her.

"The Emperor didn't use them, so why should we?" Luke asked, pensively. She might not have been able to read him through the Force, but Rey could already guess what Luke's stance on the little creatures was.

"Because you weren't here!" an angry voice from the back said. A man with a white beard spoke, his eyes blazing. "Meanwhile the Hosnian system was destroyed. Millions of lives, perhaps billions, just wiped out. And where were you? Off on some planet, doing nothing? While we had to think of _something_."

Luke regarded the man, who Rey recognized as one of the surviving council members they rescued from Naboo. "My being here isn't going to change everything," Luke reasoned. "But all the same, I do hope that in this matter, when it comes to the _Force_ , this council trusts my judgment from now on."

This quieted the bearded man. His face, though bright red, was closed off.

"I have only been back for ten minutes. This will take some time, coming up with a plan. My padawan and I will do everything we can to help the Resistance." Luke spoke confidently, but Rey could hear how tired he was. She could pick up on his distaste for war, even without the Force. When your whole life had been nothing but one conflict after another, one loss after another, you were allowed to be a little tired.

At the mention of Rey, all eyes turned to her, standing next to Poe at the top of the amphitheater. Poe put his hand on her upper back, gently coaxing her down the steps with him where they came to sit next to Luke and Leia.

"But I am to understand that you have Ben Solo in your custody," Luke continued, pushing past the quiet murmur that followed Rey's entrance. "I will not make any final decision on the use of the ysalamiri until I am able to see him for myself."

"That _monster_ ," a voice said behind Rey, "killed Han Solo, and dozens of _your_ padawans." Rey could not identify its source.

"All the same," Luke said, his face now dark with seriousness. "I will speak to my nephew. His trial will go on as planned. There is much to discuss, but not here. If you'll forgive me, members of the council, but I have come a long way, and am quite tired. I wish to see the prisoner before I retire for some rest."

Luke rose without being dismissed, and ascended the steps of the amphitheater. Rey knew enough that she should follow close behind. She was no longer Rey the lonely scavenger. She was Rey the Jedi padawan of Master Luke Skywalker. She had feared owning up to her new role in front of Poe. So used to being no one for so long, Rey held a strong distaste for anything that drew attention to herself.

Still, she gave Poe a meaningful glance, and trudged off in his wake.

Standing there in silence, Poe watched as she disappeared through the entrance of the amphitheater. Leia drew up beside him, and spoke to him while looking at her brother leave.

"We have to trust in the will of the Force, Commander Dameron. My brother is the only one who can lead us through this dark time." She sighed, and faced her much taller, star pilot. "I fear that their arrival will cause some discord among your troops."

"How do you mean?" Poe asked, confused.

"Well," Leia said, considering the question. "I know Luke, and he will want to give my son a chance to atone for his wrongdoings. That will not sit well with many here." Poe nodded in understanding. "Can I count on you to help them keep the faith?"

"You have my word, General. I believe in them."

Leia smiled. Poe truly was like a son to her, and indispensible to the Resistance. "So do I, Poe."

* * *

 **AN: I am sorry for the LONG time since updating this story. I have a new flame lit under me now though that the teaser trailer came out (amazing, right?). So, I wanted to give a quick, but slightly short, update on this story, and update you all on the fact that I am going to finish this story, come hell or high water. I will be incorporating some of the things I have interpreted from the teaser trailer, but want to finish before the new film comes out.**

 **As always, reviews mean the world to me, and so many of you give such insightful reviews that it makes my heart swell! You're the absolute best. Cheers, and welcome back to my little story!**


	13. Chapter 13

Rey quickly caught up with Luke, who turned to her just before they reached the door to the hangar where Kylo Ren was being held. He assessed her expression, crossing his arms thoughtfully.

"You don't have to come with me for this," he said, his words heavy with meaning.

"I…" Rey thought a moment. "I need to. This has to be harder for you than it is for me."

"I have had twelve years to think of what I'll say to Ben. But I think for now, I'll simply listen and consider what I see. While the ysalamiri are here, I can't get a proper read on him. And even if they were gone, I'm not sure he hasn't learned to block out mental intrusions."

Rey's eyebrows knit in confusion. She had no problem probing Ren's mind those months ago when he had trapped her in that interrogation room.

"You got through to Ben when he wasn't expecting you to push back," Luke said, as if anticipating her thoughts. "Snoke will have made sure he has put up his guards."

"So we really do have to hear him out?" Rey said, her stomach falling.

Luke set his jaw, but did not respond. He pushed the button to open the automatic door, revealing an entrance into a block of cells, walled off by stone and glass. Luke walked slowly down the row of cells until he reached the one that held the dark haired man seated on the floor, his head leaned back onto the stone wall.

Kylo Ren's eyes were closed, and he took a steadying breath before opening them, the shock he felt only registering for a second before adopting a neutral expression once again.

Luke stood before the glass for a moment, observing his nephew. Rey uncomfortably did the same, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Uncle Luke," Ren said, looking at his hands, which were dangling casually as his forearms rested on his tucked knees. If said in any other tone, Rey would have taken it for sarcasm. Instead, Rey interpreted this as grave acceptance.

"Ben," Luke said, shaking his head. "Look what the dark side has done to you, son."

"I'm not your son, in case you have forgotten," Ren's tone still maintained its lackadaisical manner.

" _No_ ," Luke said, his voice raising an octave. "No, you killed mine."

Rey felt as if she had been punched in the gut. Luke had a son. That Kylo Ren killed. Rey had not yet heard the full story of Ben's betrayal, but knew better than to press for it. Pressing Luke for answers as to her own past was one thing. This was entirely different.

Ren's lips pressed together in a thin line, and he shook his head slightly, staring off past Luke.

"I know," he said. He stood slowly, and approached the glass, looking at Rey for a few seconds before looking back to Luke. "I've come to explain myself. I only hope you'll hear me out. I can't take back what I did, but maybe some of my actions will be clearer once you hear what I have to say."

Rey's emotions got the better of her. Tears prickled slightly at the corners of her eyes, but she ignored it, letting it pass. "What could possibly excuse killing children? Your own blood? _Your father_?"

" _Rey_ ," Luke said, in a warning tone, gentle but firm.

"No, it's a fair question," Ren said, intervening. "There's more to it, and I hoped to explain at the trial, but… I did those things, at the temple, after Snoke got to me. My time in the Senate brought me close to him, but of course you know that whole story, Uncle Luke. And I killed in his name. For years."

"What changed?" Luke said, still not betraying what emotions Rey knew were raging underneath his calm exterior.

"It was slow. It started with small orders, but eventually I couldn't ignore the pull to the light anymore. He's merciless, Snoke. When I started to object to orders, he punished me."

 _How terrible for you_ , Rey wanted to say, but held her tongue for the sake of her teacher.

"And then there was Han Solo," Ren said. He was now looking at Rey, as if trying to atone for what he did to the only man who had, at that point, served as a kind of father figure. "The order to kill my father couldn't be violated. I had to do it to earn Snoke's trust. It was the beginning of the final phase of my training."

"So you've earned his trust," Luke said. "And how did you go from killing your father to fleeing from your master?"

Kylo Ren swallowed and licked his lips, weighing whether or not he should say this next part of his story.

"He sent me here for her." Rey had to shake her head, not sure she heard him right.

"What?"

"I'm supposed to bring you to him. He thinks I'm here to do his bidding. I came here and surrendered, but that was just what I had to tell the Resistance. What I'm telling _you_ is the truth."

Rey looked over in the corner, looking for the damned ysalamiri, blocking her ability to violate Kylo's mind in anger.

"You think you can just absolve yourself by being honest? Lull me into a false sense of security because you've been so _damned honest_? Master Luke, those little things over there shouldn't be here. " Rey was fuming.

" _Rey_ ," Luke said, warningly. He turned to Ren. "Those things won't be here much longer, I can tell you that. And I know that when they're gone, your wards will be so high that neither Rey nor I could penetrate them to feel out your intentions. But…"

Luke ran a hand over his beard, covering his mouth for a moment. "Your trial will commence tomorrow, and if you're allowed to live, you must do everything I tell you, leaving no room for doubt that you have followed all of my orders."

Kylo nodded, an understanding passing between uncle and nephew.

"The _second_ you cross me," Luke said, adopting a tone that frightened even Rey, who wasn't the target of the words he doled out, "I will cut you down. Do we understand one another?"

Kylo nodded once, and at that, Luke had finished with him. He turned to his padawan, and addressed her directly. "Get some rest. Tomorrow will be a long day."

He left without another word, leaving Rey alone with the monster who cut down her only friend, and the only man who'd ever been a mentor to her. The monster who invaded her mind.

Rey's stomach flipped at the sight of him, which unsettled her even more than his mere presence. He looked down at her in a curious mixture of sorrow and hope.

"You came here for _me_ ," Rey said. " _What does he want with me_?"

Kylo's eyebrows knit together for a moment. "To bend you to his will. Dominate your mind. Use you until there's nothing of _you_ left. He knows who you are. He won't stop until he has you."

Rey shook her head. "I didn't ask for _any_ of this."

"No one does. But I'm your only hope against him. You know that, deep down."

Rey said nothing.

"You may hate me. You may disagree with my methods. You might not share my feelings about the dark side. But it's in you, I can feel it. It's in your blood," Rey's chest fluttered at the memory of learning that she was the granddaughter of Sheev Palpatine. Ren took a deep breath. He had to step back, or he was liable to sabotage his own workings on the girl. "In that room… I know you felt it. Our bond. I won't let him have you. Not now."

She had to leave. The way he looked at her made her skin prickle. He looked at her like he revered her, and at the same time, was preying upon her. Her feelings told her not to trust this wolf staring at her from behind the glass. But at the moment, the only solace she was able to give herself was that she trusted her Jedi Master. The trial was tomorrow, for the next twelve hours, Rey could exist in the blissful land of avoidance.

Rey shook her head, and without a word, bolted out of the building, heading for her quarters in the Falcon.

He was likely to be sentenced to death by the council, she told herself, wiping a tear from her face as she briskly walked away. She couldn't help but entertain that small nagging feeling in the back of her mind.

… _What if he wasn't?_


	14. Chapter 14

Safe in the galley of the Millennium Falcon, Rey leaned against the counter with her sweaty palms gripping the surface. Her encounter with Kylo Ren had shaken her to her core. She had spent the time following her discovery of her heritage dreading it coming out.

Not that she was ashamed of being the granddaughter of Obi-Wan Kenobi. But she was ashamed of being Sheev Palpatine's. Luke had only granted her a small amount of information, but the thought of Sheev Palpatine fathering a child made her sick to her stomach. Had the woman been compelled through the Force? Had he even bothered with the Force, or had he simply taken the girl he wanted? Or worse yet, had this woman voluntarily formed a relationship with the most evil creature the galaxy had ever known?

However Rey's mother, Reyna Palpatine, was conceived, she did turn out to be good. That was the word Luke had used— _Good_. And yet. She had that potential.

Her head swimming with thoughts, Rey sat at the galley table, barely able to support her own weight anymore. She put her head on her arms on the table in front of her.

She didn't want anyone to know who she was. But Snoke knew. And so did Kylo Ren. The future of her secret very much rested with Luke and Kylo, and she trusted Luke with her life. Rey concluded then that she wanted Kylo to stay imprisoned. She very nearly admitted she wanted him put to death, but in her time with Luke, she had formed her own opinions about capital punishment.

Self-defense was one thing. Murder was another. But could it be considered murder when his crimes had been so heinous? She simply didn't know how she felt. A dark part of her wanted to see Kylo punished in some way. This, more than anything, scared her.

And then there was what Kylo had said to her. _I know you felt it… our bond. I won't let him have you._ She pushed the question of whether Kylo himself wanted her from her mind. It was all too much for one day.

Just when she had raised her head, and began rubbing at her face with exhaustion, she heard footsteps on the Falcon. So far from the ysalamiri, Rey was able to feel a familiar presence. When he turned the corner, her feelings were confirmed.

Poe Dameron stood meekly in front of her, his hand resting on the frame of the doorway.

"You alright?" he asked, approaching her.

Rey sighed, smoothing her hair with both of her hands, clasping them behind her neck.

"He gets under your skin," she said simply, feeling a calm wash over her in the presence of the Resistance fighter.

"That he does," Poe said, stopping when he stood less than a foot from where she sat. "I don't trust him. He wants us to believe he's a turncoat."

"If he's sentenced to death, it won't matter what he wants us to believe." Rey was quiet a moment, and then looked up into Poe's kind eyes. "I don't think he would have come here if he wasn't sure he would be pardoned."

Poe sat, scraping a chair along the floor to be closer to Rey. "Then that begs the question of what he wants out of this," he said, absentmindedly.

Rey's insides screamed for her to tell Poe. She wasn't ready for Poe to look at her any other way than he already did. She wasn't ready to lose that. So, she pressed her lips together and shook her head.

"With the ysalamiri here, I can't know for sure."

Poe nodded, reclining in his chair. "I heard that Luke was going to order their movement from the base. When I went to get them, it did feel a little too easy. I know all of the troops feel better with them here, but… you and Luke can't function with them here."

Rey nodded. "Luke thinks they won't even matter, Kylo's got such strong wards up now."

"Everything rides on this trial," Rey said. "If he's allowed to go free… Luke will watch him like a hawk. And if he makes one misstep, Luke will kill him." She looked into Poe's eyes, as if she was gauging his reaction.

"And he's right to," Poe said, shaking his head.

Rey opened her mouth for a second, the words frozen on her lips. "And if Luke doesn't, I will."

Now it was Poe's turn to size Rey up. "I held back, on Starkiller. I am sure he did too, and maybe that's why I was able to give him that scar. But I won't hesitate."

Poe smiled a sad, half smile, and tentatively raised his hand to Rey's face, gently tucking a bit of hair behind her ear. At this gesture, Rey felt the familiar pull every time they touched. About to speak, breaking the heavy silence between them, Rey stopped when she heard a murmur outside the Falcon.

It sounded to her like a kind of hiss, mixed with the sound of tapping on the hull of the ship. Her senses flared, rousing her to fight if necessary.

"What's happening?" Rey asked, looking to Poe.

Poe looked around the Falcon, and listened. He looked back at Rey incredulously.

"It's rain," he said simply, a small smile playing on his face. Surely she knew what rain sounded like. Then again, he knew she'd spent her entire life on Jakku, a desert planet. "Have you never seen rain before?"

Rey swallowed. She had indeed seen rain for the first time on Ahch-To. It was cold, and on the island there was almost always a slight drizzle. But it was never as heavy as what she was hearing.

"I hadn't until Ahch-To," Rey said. She rose as if in a trance, and walked to the cockpit of the Falcon to look out of the window. It was coming down in sheets, blurring the view out of the windshield. "It was never like this though."

Poe came up behind her, and Rey could practically feel the heat coming off him. She certainly could feel how he felt about her, but she didn't want him to know how much she could pick up on with the Force. She turned, and looked up at him in the now-dim light that came through the cockpit. Her heart hammered in her chest. It just now occurred to her that this was the first time she'd been truly alone with Poe since her return.

His skin appeared almost blue in the overcast light, his eyes almost black. Time seemed to slow down as he closed the small distance between them, and gently traced a line from her hairline to her jaw with his fingers. It sent chills down her spine, and she involuntarily closed her eyes.

"I thought about you every day," Poe admitted. Rey's eyes shot open, and back to Poe's, searching him. She refused to probe his mind, so she hoped she wouldn't have to ask him to explain.

"I know…" he started, letting his hand rest gently on her neck, "I know I barely know you, but it doesn't feel that way."

Rey's words were gone. She felt the same, but in the back of her mind, she wondered if he did know her, who she was, would he be looking at her that way?

"All I can say is," he said, lowering his face, whispering his words onto her lips, "I wanted nothing more than to kiss you for those two months, and now that I've done it, I don't want to stop."

Without waiting for a response, Poe brought his lips to Rey's, deepening their kiss immediately. All the innocence of the kiss they shared on the tarmac was gone, replaced now by a soft intensity that nearly knocked Rey off her feet. To steady herself, she grabbed the fabric of Poe's flight suit, letting him lead her through their kiss.

When Rey felt Poe's tongue graze her lips gently, she tensed up slightly. Giving her a moment's reprieve, Poe pulled back, gauging Rey's expression. His eyes moved from her lips to her eyes, searching for guidance. Rey, in turn, looked at his, and decided to close the gap herself.

Still clutching to his flight suit, and with Poe's arms securely around her waist, Rey opened herself to what Poe was teaching her. And whether or not the two of them said it out loud, they both knew that was exactly what Poe was doing. Gently, Poe nudged her lips open and coaxed her tongue with his own.

Before she knew it, every part of Rey's body was responding to Poe's. Her head swam, and she was thankful Poe held her as he did.

Reluctantly, Poe pulled back, breaking their kiss. Rey could hardly catch her breath, so she stood there, the two of them nose-to-nose. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw Poe smiling his boyish smile.

"Come on," Poe said abruptly. "You've got to be starving after your journey. I'm sure there's something in the mess hall." Poe took Rey's hands, and took advantage of her speechlessness to pull her towards the entrance of the Falcon.

By the time they reached the open ramp, Rey was able to shake herself from her stupor. The torrential rain still lashed the concrete tarmac. Rey paused at the edge of the Falcon's shelter from the storm.

"I thought it would have let up by now," Poe said, suddenly doubting whether he wanted to bring Rey out into the deluge.

Rey held her hand out to feel the fat drops of rain that fell from the darkened sky. She smiled. Despite being on a blustery, drizzly island for two months, Rey still found it incredible.

"Come on," Poe said, walking back up the Falcon's ramp. "We'll wait for it to pass."

After a moment, Rey pulled her hand, wet with cold rain, back to herself, and turned to follow Poe back into the belly of the Millennium Falcon.

* * *

 **AN: Thank you, Arallute! I'm glad you appreciated my little nod to Zahn. I love the EU books. I am still making my way through them, but what I've read, I like. I just feel like they're so rich, it would be a shame to ignore them completely.**


	15. Chapter 15

Rey passed the night on the Millennium Falcon. Having been tearfully reunited with Finn, she, Finn, Poe and BB-8 sat and talked. Mostly they talked of what they had been doing at the Resistance bases. Neither Poe nor Finn asked too much about what had happened on Ahch-To. They knew she would tell them in time.

When she could no longer keep her eyes open, the two men and the droid bid her goodnight.

Before she slept, she and Luke meditated. It was the only thing keeping her from crawling out of her skin. Having sent the ysalamiri away before the night fell, Luke could already pick up on Rey's feelings. He used his influence once again, and talked her through more meditations.

Her dreams were broken and restless, filled with images of Poe, Ahch-To, snow falling in a forest of trees and a single red lightsaber casting its crimson glow on the white blanket. Her heart raced when she felt that fear. From the forest, she moved to the interrogation room, where she saw Kylo's face for the first time. She felt the shock, the confusion that under his helmet, he was just a man.

With his face still in her mind, it was his reach through the Force that woke her from her sleep. It felt like being doused with warm water, not altogether unpleasant, but jarring nonetheless.

Rey swung her feet off her bunk, and hung her head in exhaustion. Across the bunk room, she heard her mentor's exasperated sigh as he too gave up on sleep.

"He's reaching for you," Luke said.

"I know," Rey said. "Those ysalamiri were nice for something, I'll say that much."

Luke rose, wrapping his cloak around him, and Rey followed suit. The two of them sat pensively in the galley until the sun rose, and drank their tea in anticipation of the trial that would come in a matter of hours. Just when Rey sensed that it was time for them to leave, Luke broke his silence.

"If they let him live, they surely won't let him go free. So that means he will be imprisoned. I know this will be hard to hear, Rey, but I will be taking custody of him. The council will agree to my demands."

Rey gaped in disbelief.

"Why?"

Luke sighed, and she could sense his inner turmoil. "Ben is my nephew. He killed my son," their eyes met, but his expression communicated he would say nothing of this story for now, "but I plan to try to bring him back to the light. Leia thought there was good in him, and that's why she sent Han after him. And Rey… killing Han certainly would have been the best way to earn Snoke's trust. And he most certainly does, at this moment, have every intention to take you to him."

Luke's expression was grave. Rey's stomach flipped, and her heart pounded in fear. Luke felt everything she did, but put his hand on hers in a comforting gesture. "I know him. I know that's what he thinks he's going to do. But I know you, Rey. I knew your parents, I knew Obi-Wan and his wife Miri. If anyone can get to him, it's you. Your job, Rey, is to bring Ben back towards the light."

"How am I going to do that?" Rey asked, feeling herself pull her hand away from Luke's.

"You misunderstand me," Luke said, shaking his head. "Ben wants to be your teacher. He wants what he thinks I failed to give him. His feelings toward you are palpable, it is true. Do with them what you will, but you appear to be something of a weak spot for him. It's the only one I've seen in him that has affected him so."

"Play to his humanity, you mean…" Rey said, hoping she understood where her mentor was taking this.

"Yes, Rey," Luke said. "You could just as easily be a sister to him. And once he has seen the light, _then_ we will destroy Snoke. With his padawan's help."

"But Ben is too far gone. He'll never be fully light."

"No," Luke concluded. He looked suddenly like he had the weight of the whole galaxy on his shoulders. She had seen this look before. Occasionally he let this show. "We will get to that in time. I need you to put your faith in my plan, Rey."

Rey swallowed the lump in her throat, trusting again the wise man she had grown to respect and trust so much. Unable to respond verbally, Rey nodded.

* * *

Rey was a pillar of strength. Her stony exterior betrayed nothing of the battle that raged inside her. Kylo Ren's trial had been underway for an hour now, and he had laid an impressive path for the council to follow. He was an artful storyteller, she had to hand it to him. She just didn't know if she believed him or not when he described realizing that Snoke had to be destroyed.

Kylo sat with electronic manacles about his wrists, in the center of the amphitheater, a stark contrast set between his jet black hair and clothing and the silver of the chair to which he had been secured. Even the council and those who were early enough to find space in the amphitheater were light in comparison to the dark mark he set.

The ysalamiri, per Luke's orders, had been sent away before the trial could commence, allowing Luke full access to Kylo's mind as the trial commenced. In response, Admiral Akbar had ordered twenty soldiers, armed with blasters set to kill, to be stationed at the top of the amphitheater.

With his story told, the council now began to launch question after question at him, attempting to chip away at his story. To trip him up.

Rey turned to her Master Luke, who watched stoically. She lowered her voice while the trial continued around them.

"They're going to let him go, aren't they?"

Luke looked at his padawan for a brief moment. "I don't think the death penalty is going to be utilized, if that's what you mean."

"What else is there?" Rey asked. She knew that he could be remitted to the custody of Luke, as was his plan, but what else could they possibly have in store for him?

"When the council has given its sentence and punishment, it will be carried out. Only then will he be released to our care."

Rey had never seen a military trial, or any trial of any kind, so her mind ran wild with the possibility of punishment.

"Ben Solo," the ancient Vee Burell said, in a tone that sounded very final, "Having heard your testimony, and having answered the questions put to you, this council will meet for one hour to discuss your fate. Do you have any last words before this session is adjourned?"

Kylo looked up at the small, white haired woman clad in her maroon robes, and shook his head. As two large guards approached Kylo Ren to escort him out while the council convened, Kylo's eyes met Rey's, and for a moment, she felt him reach out to her through the Force. It was momentary, just an exploratory meeting, but Rey hadn't expected it. She tensed up at the feeling, and stood abruptly from the courtroom, racing out of it before she could see Kylo Ren taken away.

Across the room, Poe Dameron caught sight of her disturbed exit, and followed on her heels. By the time he caught up with her, she had already reached the mess hall, and stood fuming in line.

"What happened back there?" Poe asked, pulling Rey aside to speak to her.

Rey shifted, looking at Poe, before deciding to let him know. "He reached out to me… The minute the ysalamiri were taken away, he did it too. We have a," Rey bristled, " _Force bond_."

"What does that mean?" Poe asked.

Rey hoped the answer wouldn't disappoint him. "A kind of connection. It's not voluntary, please believe that. I have one with Luke, but with Ren it feels… different. I can't stand it."

Poe comforted Rey in an embrace. Who was he to begrudge her things he didn't understand, things as serious as the Force? Still, the thought of Kylo Ren reaching out to Rey in an unwanted form of contact set him on edge.

Quietly the two passed the hour, speaking sparsely, but with Poe's hand on Rey's leg in a calming gesture, she was able to wait out the hour before sentencing.

It wasn't until there was a sort of rush in the mess hall that Rey's senses went on red alert. Pilots and mechanics alike left their trays on their tables, murmuring and rushing off outside. Poe stood, addressing Finn as he raced past them.

"Finn," Poe called, "what's happening?"

Rey felt a brief wash of relief as she saw Finn, having not seen him at all since the previous night. She wanted nothing more than to sit with him just a moment, but so much had been condensed in such a short frame of time.

Finn spoke in a grave but decidedly just tone, "they're going to carry out the sentence now."

"C-carry out the sentence?" Rey stammered, jumping to her feet. "It's happened already? The trial?"

"They didn't need long to convene apparently. Fifty lashes and imprisonment for the duration of the war," at that Finn raced off with the rest of the crew, leaving Poe and Rey in his wake.

Rey felt an odd wave pass over her, and she clutched at her stomach. Could she possibly be afraid for him? She swallowed, telling herself it was only nerves. She looked to Poe, who instinctively took her hand, and together they walked out to the throng of people that gathered around a raised platform.

On it was a metal pole that Rey knew served as scaffolding for aircraft repair, but the manacles dangling from it gave her a feeling of dread. She blanched at the sight of them.

And then she felt him. He was being led to the center of the growing mass of people who threw slurs at him, but most of them remained solemn and quiet.

Poe and Rey approached the center of the circle just as Kylo was led to the platform. They came to stand next to Finn, who had only arrived seconds before them.

A guard moved to pull at Kylo's cloak, but Kylo held up a hand to stop the man.

Rey's stomach tightened, and she could sense the palpable fear in the crowd that he was about to use the Force against this man. But, in a shocking gesture, Kylo unclasped the cloak, and folded it in on itself, dropping it a few feet from where he was about to receive his punishment. When his manacles were briefly un-magnetized, he did the same with his black shirts, leaving his bare chest exposed to the Naboo moon's chilly mid-morning breeze.

Rey's stomach now seemed to be in an ever-growing knot. Now stripped down to the waist, Rey was able to see the damage she knew she had rent. Small burns on his chest and shoulder, and the scar that extended from his face down his neck. Then there was the blaster scar that Chewie had left. She found him in the crowd, towering above all others, his face impassive.

Soon, his manacled hands were affixed to the chain that dangled ominously from the pole.

Rey felt like time had slowed, and in the time between each heartbeat, an hour could have passed. And then she saw the man with the whip in his hand. He could have been anyone, for Rey registered none of his features. When she would think back to this day, she would never be able to remember his face. All she saw was the whip in his hands.

It was when Luke walked through the crowd that the rest of the crowd grew silent. He came to stand next to Chewie. His face was grave. Rey thought briefly that something of pity and sorrow played on Luke's face, but just as soon as she thought she saw it, it was gone.

With Luke, Leia, Chewie, Someone was speaking, and Rey didn't understand a single word that was being spoken. After these words were spoken, the faceless man with the whip stepped up to do his work. Rey flinched at the sight of the length of the whip being dropped, grabbing for both Poe and Finn's hands, holding them to calm her nerves.

Kylo's eyes met Rey's, and for a moment, she felt his fear. She felt his self-loathing. She felt the same pain he felt when he ran his blade through his own father. And with all of Kylo Ren's emotions running through her own mind, she flinched as the first lash was dealt.

Unconsciously, a tear fell from her eyes. Another lash, and another lash descended on Kylo's back. Kylo held Rey's gaze as long as he could, but when the skin on his back began to welt, he winced and clenched his jaw, silently taking his punishment.

Unable to look any longer, Rey took her hand from Finn's, and turned into Poe's shoulder. Without a word, Poe reached over, putting his hand on Rey's arm for comfort. Rey kept her eyes open, staring at Poe's jacket, losing count of the blows to Ren's back, but could not force herself to look.

She could not feel Kylo's pain, but could feel the emotions that it brought out in him. More guilt. More self-loathing. But beneath that, Rey could have sworn she felt a growing rage, and just as soon as she felt it, it was gone. Kylo had blocked himself from her.

At the absence of their connection, Rey looked back at him. He was having a hard time supporting himself, but he kept his gaze on Rey. When his eyes shifted slightly to Poe, Rey could have sworn she saw the ghost of a smirk on his face. And at that, the last lash had been dealt, and Kylo Ren's punishment had ended.


	16. Chapter 16

"You don't understand!" the woman pleaded, her eyes alight with a fierce fire. She ran her hand through her hair, looking at her husband desperately. "He did the same thing."

Ferrus Kenobi approached his wife with his hands up in a calming gesture. "Reyna, it wasn't anything to be worried about. She's young. She doesn't know what she did. She can't be held responsible for what those boys did."

Reyna licked her lips, hoping tears wouldn't fall from her eyes. "No, Ferrus, Force manifestations don't just escalate like that. Not that badly." She shook her head. "She has… _him_ in her, I know it."

Ferrus could no longer resist, so he took his wife in his arms. She shuddered there, peering over her husband's shoulder at the closed door to their daughter's room. It was once her own room, and she had harbored reservations at putting her in there. Ferrus had insisted Rey's upbringing wouldn't be the same, so it didn't matter where she was. She would be happy no matter what.

"You can't really think that our Rey is capable of what your father was, can you?" Ferrus asked, rubbing Reyna's back gently.

"I don't know, Ferrus. Self-defense is one thing, but what if—"

"What if nothing, Reyna," Ferrus said, pulling back to look at his wife. "She will be with Luke soon. I don't think Luke is capable of instilling any dark qualities in any of his padawans."

Reyna was silent a moment. "I don't want her going. She's only seven. She's too young," she said, and finally her tears fell at the memory of being bended to the will of her father from such a young age. He was a tender father, much to the surprise of any who saw him with her, but where Sheev Palpatine taught Reyna Palpatine to use Force lightning on others, a good father, a father on the side of the light, would have taught his daughter to meditate. To move objects with the Force. To use the Force for good, like Ferrus's father, Obi-Wan, had taught him.

"It's not like it was before, Reyna," Ferrus said, wiping the tears from his wife's eyes. "Our children aren't taken from us, never to be seen again. We may not see her for months at a time, but she will know where home is. They all do."

Reyna sucked her teeth a moment, thinking of all the padawans at Luke's temple. Then she thought of young Ben. "Leia doesn't like it."

Ferrus smiled. "Well, Leia doesn't know if she wants Ben to be a senator or a Jedi. That's the problem. He's pulled in too many directions."

"It would be easier if Rey were educated in politics, and not the Force," Reyna said, noncommittally. She had made a life for herself rebuilding the political infrastructure that her father had torn apart with his destruction of the Republic. Her abilities with the Force served as an intermediary between the New Jedi Order Luke was building, and the Republic.

"Sure," Ferrus chuckled. "But politics is not the right path for a Kenobi. My parents were strong with the Force. _We_ are strong with the Force… This is her true destiny. Just let her go to Luke. I refuse to believe my little girl has any of the dark side in her."

Ferrus's smile was confident—but it always was. And Ferrus had not seen the way Rey had defended herself against those playground bullies. Having seen her using the Force to levitate pebbles, they reacted out of fear and pushed her to the ground. Rey had angered quickly, and when one of the little boys had kicked her while she was down, she shocked him through the Force.

It hadn't been much, but it was enough to knock him on his backside. Reyna had raised her arm to intervene, to pull the children apart with the Force, but Rey was too quick.

Rey had never been a cruel child. She was sweet to a fault. Reyna had lost count of the stray cats that little Rey had "rescued" at the Palpatine country estate. But when teased, or angered, Rey could become volatile. Her tearful meltdowns were enough to set Reyna on edge, fearful of Rey's reactions. Ferrus chalked this up to toddlers being unable to control their emotions, but Reyna always feared its deeper meaning.

With the two of them divided on the meaning of Rey's Force manifestation, they decided it was best to retire for the evening. The next day, Rey acted as if nothing had happened the previous day, but Reyna did not feel safe enough to leave her daughter at home with nannies. After breakfast, she knelt in front of her daughter to ascertain her feelings.

When she felt no anger or confusion, Reyna spoke to her daughter. "Rey… how would you feel about accompanying mummy to the capital today?"

Rey's eyes lit up. She loved visits to the capital building. She was simultaneously excused from her schooling, and also got to visit the most interesting people on Naboo. Beings from different planets, people of different colors. To Rey, this was a treat. To Reyna, this was a precaution.

Bounding up the steps of the capital, Rey raced ahead of her mother as fast as her tiny legs would take her. Pausing at the top of the capital's steps, Rey was positively itching with excitement.

"Mummy, hurry!" she said, holding her hand out for her mother to take when she reached the top, impeded by the heavy and elaborate garb of a senator. Little Rey had been outfitted neatly for the occasion, but nothing she wore could ever hinder her curiosity and excitement over the capital.

"Yes, little dove, I'm coming," Reyna said, smiling. She took her daughter's hand in hers, and together they entered the building with the sloping domes and pillars.

* * *

Ben Solo may have been a happy child at some point, but any happiness that was able to grow within him was always extinguished with every fight his parents had. If it wasn't about the months Han Solo spent off planet, abandoning his family (so she said), or Leia's disregard of the family right in front of her when the Republic took up all her energy (so he said), it was something silly. Where they would spend a holiday. What Ben should be learning in school (Han insisted on flight school and then the Jedi Academy, Leia insisted on the Youth Senate).

Ben did think about what he wanted often, but he could never make up his mind. Perhaps if his parents hadn't pulled him in a million different directions he would have been given the chance to find his own path.

So, after an explosive fight, it was decided that Ben would attend the Jedi Academy. Ben had cried that night, but he wasn't sure why. He did want to attend the Academy. But something about it all felt off.

At the young age of eight, Ben Solo began spending four weeks at a time at Luke's Jedi Academy. He was among the first of the padawans, so with time, Ben began accompanying his uncle across the galaxy in search of children with potential. This gave Ben a sense of purpose, a goal. He felt needed, important.

He never felt that way at home. Every four weeks, the padawans were sent home to be with their families for two weeks. Luke had deliberated for some time over how the New Jedi Order would be structured, and in an attempt to avoid collapse, some rules were relaxed. So, padawans returned home, and were encouraged to form attachments to family, and in time, a partner of their choosing.

Snoke's pollution of Ben Solo's mind started slowly. In their first encounter, the mysterious other-worldly being passed Ben in the halls of the senate, giving a silent nod to Senator Organa-Solo, and her young, visiting son Ben. In time, Snoke had been one to whom Leia had confided that she worried Ben would favor the Force over political action. With a crooked smile that spread all the way to his murky eyes, Senator Snoke had suggested he mentor the boy on his visits home.

And for years this is how it remained. Ben Solo would grudgingly come home to bickering parents, and seek reluctant refuge in the senate with his generally palatable, if not slightly odd, mentor. It was a pleasant enough experience.

And then it wasn't.

"What does Luke teach you young padawans at the Academy?" Snoke had said conversationally, sitting across from Ben at his desk.

"Oh," Luke said, averting his eyes respectfully. He had learned to avoid looking at the gaping, concave scar on Snoke's forehead. "The usual. Levitation, meditation, combat skills. Force persuasion is next," Ben said, lighting up. "Luke says I'm not old enough yet, but I am. _I'm fifteen_!"

Snoke's eyebrows raised comically in forced sympathy. "Oh, I agree my boy," he had croaked. "Fifteen is old enough to be on the senate. Your grandmother had been elected queen when she was only _fourteen_."

Ben huffed in reply.

"Sounds to me like your Master might be holding back," Snoke offered.

"What do you mean, senator?" Ben said, honestly surprised.

"Well," Snoke started, touching the tips of his fingers together, steepled in contemplation. "There are other areas of the Force your master could teach you. Clearly, a boy of your maturity can handle the intricacies…"

Ben's face shone clear, his dark eyes the size of saucers. "Master Luke has told me the other ways of the Force are the _Dark Side_. And we should be mindful to not be tempted. Especially…" Ben faltered.

"Because of your grandfather, yes, perfectly understandable," Snoke had agreed.

"Forgive me, Ben, but if I may… It seems as the adults in your life are trying to tell you what to do, but what do _you_ want?"

Ben had never been asked this in his life. Presented with the question now, so openly, Ben was at a loss for words. "I don't know, Senator. I know I want to be a Jedi Master. But… I don't know. I could be a pilot like my father. I could continue into politics like my mother, my grandmother."

Snoke's demeanor suddenly changed before Ben's eyes. He asked him the question he would hear in his dreams for months afterword, and at times in his adult life, he had replayed over and over in his head.

"What if I told you there was something else entirely? Something greater than all those things combined. Something magnificent."

Kylo Ren replayed this conversation in his head. Sometimes he refused outright. Sometimes he simply walked out the door. But every time, he replayed the real end of the conversation at the very last, and knew he could not undo the past.

He had taken the bait. He had asked to know more. And Snoke had shown him. He had polluted his mind against his parents. For years, Snoke taught Ben the ways of the Dark Side of the Force when he returned from the Academy. Ben had begun to live so fractured that he felt he was splitting into two different people. And so, Kylo Ren was born.

* * *

"Mummy, can I see the fountains again?" Rey said, bouncing on the settee in her mother's office. Reyna sighed, and looked up at her daughter, whose Rebel pilot doll dangled haphazardly from her hand.

"On our way out, I promise. I'm almost done," she said, smiling warmly, but showing how tired she was.

Rey made a small pout of protest, which melted her mother's heart immediately. Reyna laughed, shaking her head.

"If you go to Vee Burrell's office, I know she'll have sweets for you," she said, a sparkle in her eye. Vee Burrell was on the Senate, and had a soft spot for the young Rey Kenobi. If it gave Rey something to do for the remaining time she needed in the office, it was alright by her.

Rey popped up off the couch and skittered out of the room without saying anything to her mother, a smile broadly displayed on her face. Her tiny footsteps echoed in the vast marble halls of the Naboo Senate. She tore around corners, nearing Madam Burell's office, and was suddenly brought to a halt when she collided into a boy in black.

Rey bounced off his stomach with a discernible "oof," and landed squarely on her backside. She looked up at the person whose bulk had knocked her back. Where most children would immediately tear up, Rey only looked up in awed fascination at the teenaged boy in the black robes, and the alien creature at his side, swathed in the maroon robes of the senate.

The boy, to Rey, was much older, but still she could tell that he wasn't yet an adult. He had a lightness about him that Rey instantly picked up in most children. The boy, with his mop of black shaggy hair, and his pale skin, cracked a small smile, and knelt down to see to Rey.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked.

" _Yesthankyou_ ," Rey said, almost stringing her words together, affecting a polite manner, the way her mother taught her to when meeting strangers.

"Would you like some help up?" he asked, holding his gloved hands out for her. Rey felt her blush go down to her stomach, and she took the older boy's arms. She was lifted to her feet effortlessly.

The boy's companion watched amusedly, gauging the interaction before him. Rey shifted uncomfortably when she looked up at him, unable to tear her eyes away from his scar.

"There's no need to be frightened girl," the man said, his tone gravelly and low. "I only _look_ scary."

Rey fidgeted with her robes. "Yes sir."

Silence between the three of them. The hair on Rey's neck prickled. She had felt this way before, and her mother and father had both assured her it was alright, that it might happen if she met people _like her_ , but if she was frightened, she need only find one of them.

It was the boy who broke the silence. "Who are you here with?"

"My mummy," Rey said, plucking up courage. "She's a senator."

The taller figure laughed mirthfully. "Ah, but you must be young miss Kenobi. Is that right?"

Rey nodded and smiled.

The boy's eyes scrunched a moment. "You probably don't remember me, but I met you when you were a baby. Just this big," the boy said, holding his hands apart only a few feet.

Rey's eyes shone. Like most children, she loved hearing stories of times before she could remember. Times she was just a baby. After all, she was seven now, and she could remember better.

"Our parents are friends, you see. I'm Ben Solo, and this is Senator Snoke," the boy said. He held out his hand. "Let's go find your mother, shall we?"

Rey nodded in agreement, and gladly took the older boy's hand in hers, happy to be led back to her mother. Senator Snoke fell back a few paces, watching his secret padawan escort the young Force-sensitive girl back to her mother, the Jedi daughter of the Sith Lord Sidious.

Snoke had satisfied himself content to simply instruct his student to kill the Kenobis, but he had forgotten there was a young Kenobi child. Would he instruct his pupil to kill her too, he wondered? Her lineage could prove useful to his plans, being the granddaughter of Sheev Palpatine himself. But there was the pesky lineage that was her paternal grandfather. And, if Snoke remembered correctly, Obi-Wan Kenobi had married an equally powerful Jedi, an apprentice of Mace Windu himself.

He would wait. He was good at waiting. Maybe the little flea didn't need to be squashed, but if she did, it was no bother. He had Anakin's descendant.

The three of them approached the doorway to Reyna Palpatine-Kenobi's office, and at their footsteps, she turned, expecting to see Vee Burrell and her Rey. Instead, she saw the young Ben Solo and… Senator Snoke. Reyna swallowed quickly. Snoke was a hardnosed politician. He wasn't exactly unpleasant, but the other members of the senate tried to avoid getting on his bad side.

Calling upon her politician's acting skills, she smiled broadly, and approached the boy holding her daughter's hand.

She put her hands on either side of his face, and made a show of admiring him.

"Ben, you've grown into such a handsome young man," she said, tucking a curl away from his eyes. "And a wonderful pupil I've heard."

Ben's stomach hitched. He reeled his emotions back immediately. Snoke had been teaching him to mask his emotions, and to mask his Force presence from others, but still he struggled. When he got a hold of himself, he smiled dutifully.

"You're too kind, Madam Kenobi," he said, letting Rey's hand go to clasp Reyna's in his own. "I owe all of my progress to Master Luke and his teachings."

Rey gasped. "You're learning with _Luke Skywalker_?" She was to be leaving for the Academy soon. She couldn't wait to have Master Luke as her teacher.

Reyna smiled. "Rey, didn't you know, Ben is Luke's nephew," Reyna said thoughtfully.

Ben gave a half smirk to hide his discomfort of living in his uncle's shadow.

"Wow," Rey said, "my daddy says I will be going there soon. I'm going to be a Jedi like _him_."

Ben's face was impassive, but he glanced momentarily at Snoke, before looking away. Was this pity the boy was feeling, Snoke wondered? That would have to be remedied.

"And what a fine Jedi you will make," Snoke intoned. "That is something you and Ben share—a strong _family history_."

Reyna's stomach filled with ice at Snoke's measured tone. With her senses flaring, Reyna sighed, and held her hand out for Rey's.

"Senator, Ben," she said, nodding to the both of them. "I think it is time for me to get Rey home, if you'll excuse me."

Snoke nodded.

"Good day to you both," Reyna said. "Ben—convey my greetings to your parents, will you?"

"Yes ma'am," Ben said, and watched as the sandy-brown haired mother and daughter left the room.

Snoke and Ben followed suit a second later, and they set off in the opposite direction. Ben listened to the swish of Snoke's cloak, and felt as if an axe was positioned above his neck. He knew when Snoke was going to lay into him. The question was whether or not he would punish him.

"You must be mindful of your feelings, boy," Snoke said. Ben sighed, switching from his Ben persona to Kylo Ren. "They betray you."

"Yes, master," Kylo said. He knew that Snoke and he were to execute their plan very soon. He had hoped that it was all talk, and he would simply graduate to Jedi Knight with the secret knowledge of the Dark Side. But, it appeared that this was not to be. His stomach hitched when he thought of his lightsaber running through the small girl who so trustingly had taken his hand.

Seeing the image in Kylo's mind (the boy was still so unskilled at blocking him out), Snoke smirked. "It might not come to that, Kylo," he said in his croak. "If the parents can see reason."

"Yes, master," Kylo agreed.

* * *

 **AN: There are some things mentioned in this chapter that may not make sense unless you have read my previous** **fic, Chaos in Solitude. So, if you're not into reading my Obi-Wan/OC story, the TL;DR version is: Obi-Wan meets the daughter of the padawan (that I made up) of Mace Windu, and the two marry and have a child. That child is Ferrus Kenobi. I hope this clears up some confusion.**


	17. Chapter 17

Rey sat numb for hours, Poe's arm draped around her shoulders, the two of them reclining in the Millenium Falcon. Finn sat with his feet on the holo chess board. Finn's jaw flexed periodically as he reaffirmed that Kylo got what he deserved. Poe agreed reservedly, sensing that Rey felt conflicted about what had happened.

"And they're just going to let him live," Finn said, knocking back what remained of the strong drink in his hands.

"Under Luke's care," Rey said, trying to quell Finn's heated emotions.

"And what's Luke planning, Rey?" Finn asked. He tried not to sound too hostile, but Rey could read the tone, and sense his feelings. "He hasn't said."

"No," Rey said, looking at her friend, who was already so dear to her after such a short time. "He will tell me when it's time. I trust him." She paused. "You should too," she added, gently.

Poe gently rubbed at Rey's upper arm, holding her tighter. Her heart skipped a beat when he did this. Finn took notice, and looked from Rey to Poe.

"So uh," Finn said, a small smirk playing at the corner of his mouth, "is _this_ a thing?"

Rey flushed crimson, and looked up at Poe, who she was pleased to see bore a shy smile that went all the way up to his eyes.

"Ahhhh…" Poe started, unable to answer immediately. "Yes?" He said, asking Rey with his eyes as well as his words. "For my part, yes."

Rey felt her ears burn. She looked back at Finn. "I have only been back a short while, less than two days, but… Before I left, I had hoped…"

She stopped herself. She wasn't ready to have this conversation with Finn—not when she hadn't even had it with Poe.

"Alright, alright," Finn said, rising and pouring more of the noxious smelling liquid into his glass. He offered it wordlessly to Poe, who shook his head slightly in the negative. "Anyway, I thought you Jedi weren't allowed to, or something. At least Kylo never did. His Knights sure did…"

"Luke changed things when he started the New Jedi Order, or when he tried to," Rey said. "That was one of them."

"Ah, so it was his winning personality that kept him from the dollhouses that his Knights so liked to visit," Finn said, draining his drink quickly.

He rose unceremoniously, placing his empty glass in the galley of the Falcon. "I'm going to head out," he said. "It's late."

Poe rose to see his friend out, who waved him back down. "I'll see you two in the morning," he said, smiling and shaking his head on the way out.

Rey watched her friend go, and mulled on something Finn had said. Kylo hadn't had a companion? Or at least no one who mattered to him that way? And what was it that Finn had said…?

"Poe," Rey asked, turning slightly so she could face him, trying to effect a neutral expression. "Uh, I know this is going to sound stupid probably, and I'm fully prepared to look stupid. But I've just never… On Jakku we didn't have any… What is a dollhouse?"

Poe quashed the smile that came to his face, as soon as it got there. He knew Rey had lived a very lonely and sheltered life on Jakku, so far from the Core Worlds. It was charming to be a kind of guide through some of the culture she had missed out on. However, this was of a more sensitive nature.

"A dollhouse," Poe said, taking a deep breath, "Is a place of business, a house really, where women, and sometimes men, live, and sell their… company."

Rey flushed even deeper at this revelation. "Oh," she said, looking down at Poe's chest, wanting to look anywhere but his eyes. "No, we didn't have that on Jakku."

Poe smiled, tracing his finger along her jawline affectionately. "That's probably a good thing. They tend to try to lure in women who are on their own, in desperate circumstances."

Rey shook her head. "I can't even imagine."

Wanting to delay looking into his eyes just a bit longer, Rey's heart skipped a beat when he tipped her chin upwards gently with his hand. She looked into his dark eyes and found a comforting warmth there.

"In the world that the Resistance wants to build, we won't let things like that happen. People should be able to choose freely if that's what they want to do for a living, but there are so many people in the galaxy who need us. Who need _you_. And Luke."

Rey swallowed. "I hope I prove worthy to the task," Rey said, her heart sinking when she remembered all she had learned of herself.

"I don't think it's even possible for you to prove anything but worthy to the task," Poe said. "You are on the side of the Light, Rey."

Rey pressed her lips together. What would Poe's reaction be when he found out? What would anyone's reaction be? She opened her mouth to speak, and was quickly interrupted by a voice coming from the passageway leading into the galley.

"Rey," Luke said, causing Poe and Rey to quickly put a modest amount of distance between each other. Rey sat on her hands.

"Yes, Master Luke?" Rey said, wanting nothing more than to crawl into the bowels of the Falcon, never to leave there.

"I've been speaking with Leia, and… The first of our tasks is before us. We haven't any time to lose."

"What do we need to do, Master Skywalker?" Poe said, the deference in his voice clear as a bell.

" _You two_ ," Luke said, looking at the both of them, "will stay here, and keep watch over Ben while he heals enough to be transported. _I_ will be taking the Falcon off-planet, making the next step of our plan ready."

"Master, alone?" Rey stammered. "You're going without me? Is it safe?"

Luke smiled. "I think that this is the best course of action. Where I am going, the ones receiving me are, let's just say… a bit jumpy. If I bring my padawan, and a known user of the Dark Side of the Force, we're likely to be turned away. I'll bring R2 with me, he's enough support for now."

"H-how long will you be gone?" Rey asked, now unsure of herself.

"It's impossible to say, but not long I hope. Maybe days. A week. Once I have secured the location, we'll be transporting Ben there, where you will complete your training, and we will examine the next steps of the fight against the Dark Side."

"Is Kylo Ren a part of this?" Poe asked, his eyes sharpening. "Wouldn't he be more secure in the heart of the Resistance, with a thousand fighters guarding him?"

Luke sighed, and walked a few paces to join the two younger people in the galley, sitting in the space that Finn had occupied.

"Commander Dameron," Luke started. "I trust you with this information, because you have proven yourself the most loyal fighter in the Resistance, and my sister trusts you above all others."

Poe's eyes shone with duty and admiration. He sat stoically, waiting for Luke's instruction. Rey admired him and wondered how he could be so steadfast in such uncertainty.

"I, Rey, and Ben will be joining a few who are versed in the ways of the Force. Not Jedis themselves. But with enough knowledge that we might be able to turn Ben back to the Light."

"You don't really expect that _monster_ to come back to the Light, do you?" Rey spat, unable to hide her disdain for the man.

"Rey, I'm surprised," Luke said. "You felt his pain today. My bond with him is now severed, but I could see it in your eyes, and through you I felt how conflicted he is. We must use that uncertainty. We must use your bond. It is the only way to get to Snoke."

Rey looked down at her hands, which she clasped in her lap. "I will do as you instruct, Master Luke. I don't think there's any good in him." She knew that was a lie. She felt it in him. She didn't want to, but she did.

"Rey," Luke said, chidingly, "you, more than anyone, should know that a person can fight against their nature despite insurmountable odds."

Poe scrunched his eyes slightly in confusion. He looked at Rey, trying to read her. The bond Kylo had spoken of was something he initially dismissed, writing it up as nothing more than taunting. But here Luke had mentioned it again. And what did Luke mean by 'Rey, more than anyone'?

"That is all you two need to know for now," Luke said, rising. He crossed his arms in a wizened gesture, hiding his hands in the folds of his cloak. "Commander Dameron, you are to keep watch over Ben while he is still convalescing. Make sure he stays put. And Rey, I simply want you to be present. Any appeals to his humanity now may simply close him off to us even more. Observe him, be mindful of what he says. I expect a full report when I return, from the both of you."

Both Rey and Poe nodded. "I'll collect my things," Rey said. Rey disappeared quickly, leaving Luke and Poe alone.

Luke approached Poe, who stood with his arms crossed. Luke addressed Poe quietly.

"He will try to turn her to the Dark Side. Your job while I am away is to keep her off that path."

"What you mean, 'she of all people'?" Poe asked, toeing the line of being insubordinate.

Luke smiled sadly. "It is not my story to tell, Commander. Suffice to say, I place every ounce of faith I have in Rey. I believe Rey holds the key to all of this ending. When my father was a young boy, there was a prophecy… The Jedi Council made the mistake of thinking he was the Chosen One."

"The _what_?" Poe asked, his eyes widening.

Luke sighed. "Keep her safe, Commander." Luke placed a hand on Poe's shoulder in a fatherly gesture. He disappeared into the cockpit of the ship, leaving a shaken Poe in his wake, and began priming the ship for departure.

Before he had a moment to collect his thoughts, Rey's footsteps tapped closer, and she appeared holding a duffel. She smiled at Poe, and looked back to the cockpit, where Luke had reappeared. He approached his young padawan, who stood a good foot shorter than he, and he placed his hands affectionately on her neck.

"Remember your training. Remember who you are, and know that your strength comes from all sides," Luke said. "May the Force be with you."

"Yes Master, and with you," Rey nodded, and without another word, Poe placed his hand on Rey's back, and they both left the Millenium Falcon.

* * *

Rey and Poe watched as the Falcon took off, leaving them both shivering in the cool night air of the Naboo moon. Neither of them moved, but before Poe could tear himself away from the sight of the Falcon leaving the atmosphere, he spoke to the girl standing at his side.

"You haven't told me everything," Poe said, his words small in the dim light of the tarmac.

Rey began to breath quickly. She shook her head, hoping not to lose control of her emotions. She wanted nothing more than for Poe to view her the way he did now, no less.

"I'm afraid of what you'll think of me afterwards," she said simply, her voice wavering only slightly.

Poe turned to her, looking down at her face, which had taken on a pale quality in the light cast by the tarmac lights and the planet of Naboo.

"Nothing could change how I feel about you," Poe said.

"Thinking and feeling are two different things, Poe," Rey said. She placed a small hand on his chest. "I promise to tell you. So much happened while I was away. I'm just not sure how I feel about it myself."

Poe grasped the hand on his chest, and with his other hand, pulled Rey closer by her waist.

"I'm not going anywhere," he whispered, and lowered his head to hers, kissing her ardently.

When he pulled away, Rey breathed deeply. She wasn't sure she believed Poe—she certainly would second-guess Poe if she found out he was the grandchild of the most evil Sith Lord who ever lived. But maybe he would surprise her. But for now, she found herself unable to control herself shivering in the night air.

"A bit colder than Jakku, isn't it?" Poe asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes," Rey said, drawing her arms in to hold the heat to her body. "Let's go in, shall we?"

They entered the manufactured warmth of the Resistance base, relieved that the movement within was modest, with most of the fighters sleeping for however long they could. Rey sighed. She cast her eyes down.

"I'm exhausted," she said.

"Well, I'll take you somewhere you can call yours until the Falcon's back."

"Poe—" Rey started, grabbing Poe's hand as he walked away. "Not just yet. I've been thinking… I know what you'll probably be thinking of me, but I think I want… to see Kylo Ren."

"Right now?" Poe asked, but without a reproachful tone, which Rey appreciated.

"Yes," she said. "I know it sounds crazy, but if what I felt today was real, I want to confirm it."

Poe nodded, and he held his arm out in the direction of where Kylo Ren was being held. He had been taken to a secure medical wing, where one wrist was manacled to a hospital bed, and he occupied a precarious balance within a drug-induced twilight. When the guard saw them approaching, he stepped aside dutifully.

Rey set her things down, and entered slowly, as if time had slowed down.

Her eyes found him, face down, shirtless on the hospital bed. Her stomach hitched when she saw the great red welts on his back, some of them open but no longer bleeding, and now glistening with bacta. When she entered the room, she felt the shift in the Force, and he turned his head to face her. Their eyes met, and for a moment, Rey thought she wouldn't be able to move.

Poe watched helplessly from a distance as she moved towards the drugged man, who to him seemed nothing more than a viper in a trap, and the second he was let out, would strike.

Rey knelt in front of the low cot, and looked over his back.

"Does it hurt?" she asked, now aware of what a dumb question it was.

Kylo's eyes were slightly hooded in the haze of drugs, keeping his pain to a modest level. "It hurts as much as it should," he said simply, almost too harshly for Rey's liking.

"I felt you today." Rey held Kylo's gaze firmly. "I know you feel guilt. I know you feel sadness."

"You felt exactly what I wanted you to feel," Kylo said coldly.

"Well, not all of us are that adept at controlling Force bonds," Rey said. "I don't think that was on purpose."

He smiled drunkenly. "So much potential, and you haven't even scratched the surface of what you can do," he said. He looked over at Poe, so far from his hospital bed, he was sure their conversation was still private. "He has no idea who you are, does he?"

Rey looked at Poe, whose eyes sharpened, questioning whether he needed to intervene. She looked back to Kylo.

"How do _you_ know?" she asked sternly, reproachfully.

"I told you I wouldn't let Snoke have you," he said. "I'm here for _you_ , Rey. And before all is said and done, I'll show you the ways of the Dark Side."

"You've shown me enough," she said. "All I want to know is how you know who I am."

Kylo smirked, his expression smug, and with his free hand he lightly touched her jaw, looking her face over. Rey almost recoiled, but sensing the intent behind it, she stayed frozen.

"I wasn't sure it was you until I fought you on Starkiller. You've grown into quite the fighter since I first met you. You're strong, like him."

Rey pulled her face away and stood. Was he trying to provoke her?

Rey shocked herself at how loud her voice was. "What do you mean, 'when you first met me'?"

There was feeling growing deep within her, one she didn't like, but before it had time to manifest, Poe appeared at her back, placing his hands protectively on her arms.

"Come on, let's get you to your room," he said, not favoring Kylo with even a look. He wanted to get Rey out of that room—Ren was playing with Rey like a cat toys with a mouse before it's devoured. The way he touched Rey brought out a jealousy in him he had never experienced before, which he tried now to ignore.

"You don't remember anything, do you?" Kylo asked to Rey's back. She shot him a glance over her shoulder, the exhaustion in her eyes clear. She was too tired to play his games, but she knew this wasn't over.

Poe, incensed by Kylo's taunting, placed an arm around Rey's waist, placing his hand low on her hip. He leaned into her ear, murmuring. "You don't need to do this now."

Rey nodded, letting Poe lead her away.

"Don't worry," Kylo called out with the little strength he could muster. "I'll help you remember, soon enough."

* * *

Rey's mind buzzed until she heard the clack of a door close behind her. She felt oddly detached as Poe set her bag down, and she took in the room's surroundings. It was a bunker of sorts, no windows, and a cot in the corner. In the other corner there were large drums, rusted from years of neglect. Poe turned and took Rey in, closed off as she was.

"This is my bunk, or, a bunker that I took over… " Poe said, hands on his hips. "You can stay here 'til the Falcon's back. I'll take up in one of the bunkers the pilots use."

"You don't have to do that," Rey said, numbly. "I don't want to put you out."

Poe walked to Rey, and gently touched her arms with his hands, brushing the soft, freckled skin with his rough thumbs, worn through years of work on his ship.

"It's different now. You need a place to be alone. You have more on your shoulders than the others."

"Special treatment breeds resentment in places like this," Rey said, noncommittally.

Poe chuckled. "It's rank, is what it is."

Rey sighed, and before she had time to think, she shuffled to the bed Poe hadn't bothered to make, and sat at the edge, placing her head in her hands.

"I'm just down the hall if you need anything," Poe said, making to leave.

"Don't!" Rey said suddenly, raising her head. "Please don't go. N-not yet…" she lowered her voice, treading backwards. She wanted Poe's company, but she still was uncertain of what was happening between them.

Poe sat beside her, letting his forearms rest on his knees.

"He's going to continue to rattle you if you let him. He likes to get under your skin," Poe said.

"Yes," Rey agreed. "The second I know how to sever this bond, the better. With Luke, it's different, it feels… paternal. It feels better, somehow."

"So you _don't_ want Kylo in your head?"

"No!" Rey said, scrunching her face in disgust. "He is foul," she said, and lowered her voice. "But he knows more than he should."

"About you?"

Rey nodded, and looked over to Poe. He looked as fatigued as her, but it was his deep brown eyes that pulled at her heart. So open, so trusting. It haunted her that she had this secret looming over their heads. The secret felt like a great wave ready to break a levee. It was best to let it out, or else risk total destruction of what ever it was they were building. But could it even be stopped, no matter how he found out?

"Poe…" Rey said, her heart hammering in her chest. "I have to tell you. Now, before it's too late, and before we go any further with what ever _this_ is between us."

Poe nodded, not wishing to interrupt her flow.

"I… Learned something about myself on Ahch-To, when I was with Luke. I told you I was raised away from my family. Really, I was abandoned there. I never knew my family, Poe. I can't remember their faces. I couldn't even remember their names."

Rey paused, steadying herself. "I never knew I could use the Force. I couldn't, and then something happened to me when Ren had me in that room. It was like a block was taken away."

"You've told me that before," Poe said, nodding.

Rey smiled sadly. "Did you know Force sensitivity can run in families, Poe?"

Poe shook his head.

"Like Luke and Leia, it's in my family too. I'm... heavens, it sounds so terrible when I try to say it out loud."

"Then just say it. I'm still here," Poe said, taking Rey's hand in his as they sat facing each other.

"I swear, I want nothing more than to bring the downfall of the First Order. I want nothing more than to defeat the Dark Side. But sometimes I feel this anger, this hatred bubble up inside me, mostly when I'm around Ren… But other times, I feel that the Light is so overwhelming inside me, it almost _pours_ out."

"My grandfathers were both masters of the Force. One of the Light. One of the Dark."

Rey now looked at her hand in Poe's, now feeling it shrink as he held it tighter.

"My name is Kenobi."

Poe wrinkled his eyebrows a moment, as if Rey had made a joke.

"Kenobi, but… He was a hermit, a… celibate. Weren't they all?"

"Was Darth Vader?" Rey asked, making her point. "No, he had a wife—who was a Jedi too, consequently…" She let all of that sink in for Poe.

He smiled, but as soon as it was there, it was gone. He knew there was more.

"And the other?"

Rey's amber hued eyes glistened tearfully, and she pulled her hand from Poe. She could not stand to tell him to his face, so intimately. She rose, turning to the wall, looking at the callouses on her palms.

"If you hate me afterwards, I understand. If it makes you afraid of me, I understand. Please, just… don't tell anyone."

"I would never," Poe said, truthfully.

She gritted her teeth a moment, still staring at the wall. "Palpatine."

She turned back to Poe, now with twin tears streaking down her cheeks. "I don't mind so much knowing that about myself now, except for the fact that you might never want to touch me again."

Poe had anticipated having some time to process this new information, but the sight of Rey crying hit him square in the gut, and he could not stand her pain any longer. In a heartbeat, he was in front of her, lacing his hands through the hair at the nape of her neck.

"Nothing you could ever do, or be, would ever make me want to stop touching you," he said, punctuating his words with a kiss. Rey melted into it, unable to stop the next few tears that fell, relieved as she was.

They separated a moment, and he wiped the tears from her face with his thumbs. He pulled her to his chest, and she held on there for several moments, before she allowed herself to be led to the bed.

"I feel the pull to the Dark Side," Rey confessed, allowing Poe to smooth her hair back from her face. "And to the Light."

" _You are not like them_ ," Poe said, filling his words with meaning.

Rey shook her head a moment, and smiled despite herself. "Why did you have to be so wonderful?"

"'Wonderful'?" Poe repeated, his eyes sparkling playfully. "I assure you, you bring it out in me." He kissed her then, letting her calm down more and more. When he sensed that she was still, and when he saw her eyelids getting heavier, he kissed her forehead.

"I should let you sleep," he said, and stood. "Get some rest." Rey nodded slightly, but said nothing.

Poe made it to the sliding metal door, and before his hand had a chance to press the lever, Rey spoke up.

"Poe," she said, and he turned. Her mouth hung open a moment. She flushed scarlet, and before she could lose her nerve, she spoke rapidly. "Stay please, I don't… I don't think I can be alone tonight."

Poe's eyebrows rose slightly.

"I don't mean…" Rey said, looking at Poe's feet instead of his face. "I don't know what _this_ means," she gestured between them, "I don't even really know how people are supposed to _act_ when they… I just… I can't be alone."

Poe nodded, and without a word, sat beside Rey. "Ok." He sighed, his exhaustion showing yet again, and without ceremony he unlaced his boots, pulling them off. Rey, who had sat frozen until then, copied him, kicking off hers. She scooted her slight frame into the bed, and made room for Poe, who slid in, dressed completely in his flight suit.

With the light dimmed enough, and with the bedcover pulled up over the two of them, Poe turned to Rey, who was frozen in the same position.

"Come here," he said, opening his arms, waving her over. "Back up."

Rey backed into Poe, too tired and too emotionally drained to second-guess herself, or to question what she was doing. With his arm around her waist, and his chest to her back, Poe bent down and kissed the top of her head.

The were silent a while, both of them drifting in and out of sleep, in a sort of middle space between asleep and awake, when Poe gently and quietly broke the silence.

" _This_ between us," Poe said, his words rumbling in his chest against Rey's back, "I haven't felt this ever before. All I know is that when I'm not with you, all I'm thinking about is you, and when I'm with you, all I'm thinking about is touching you. In what ever way you want me, I'm yours."

Rey gripped at the arm that was wrapped around her midsection, and smiled into the darkness. She turned to look back at Poe, who she could just make out in the dimmed lights of the bunker. Without a word, he met her mouth in a kiss.

This kiss felt different than all the others. Stripped of their wits and convention, they both teetered on the edge of sleepy belligerence. Rey noticed the hitch in Poe's breathing. It felt more urgent. She matched the intensity of the kiss, uncomfortable as it was at this angle.

Poe's hand left her stomach, and traveled to her hip, where he pushed it firmly back into his own, possessively.

Rey had never been held like this before, never felt her body react this way, and she sharply inhaled as she felt Poe against her backside. Poe picked up on this, and pulled away from their kiss to whisper to her, as if being in bed warranted the hushed tone.

"If you want me to stop, I will. Just tell me, ok?" he said, affectionately brushing his nose against hers. "Ok?" He pulled back to look into her eyes for confirmation.

The moment that passed felt like a lifetime, and Rey found herself nodding, surprising herself. Wasting no time, Poe kissed Rey again, and resumed the pressure upon her hip.

He broke their kiss, turning his attention on the back of Rey's neck, amping up the pressure of his kiss, just below her hairline. Rey's eyes shot open, and she felt his kiss in her whole body. She was just about to recover her senses, when she felt Poe's hand at the apex of her thighs, above her gauzy pants.

He moved his hand a moment, and when he found the spot where she was most sensitive, she gave a breathy chuckle.

He smiled into her neck. "Is this ok?"

Rey's head swam, and she forgot how to speak. She murmured some form of 'yes', and nodded her head.

With her consent to continue, Poe brazenly, but slowly, found the hem of the garment, and snaked his fingers underneath, plunging his hand into her breeches.

Rey wasn't completely ignorant of the ways men and women could be together. She'd spent plenty of time amongst the crass and vile men on Jakku to know the general idea. But feeling it and hearing about it were completely different, and the way her heartbeat sped showed just how little she had prepared herself for this.

Poe tentatively found the wetness below, and when he moved his fingers, parting her, Rey became aware of just how her body had reacted to him. She let out a small, broken moan when he rounded the sensitive spot she had felt him touch before. This time, the feeling was amplified exponentially.

He moved there a bit, and Rey held her breath in her chest. Sensing her tense up, Poe spoke up, looking for guidance. "Show me where," he said, moving a bit, looking for the spot that would undo her. What Rey didn't know was that Poe was hoping to coax her into exploring this feeling comfortably with him, equally.

He changed the gesture slightly, switching his speed, causing Rey to cry out fully, arching her back against Poe's chest. He smiled. "There," he said, content in her reaction.

He kept at this until he felt Rey's hips involuntarily move in time with his hands, and he knew in a matter of moments, she would lose control of herself.

"Let go, Rey," Poe said, looking down at what he was doing. "Just let go."

Without a moment's hesitation, Rey let out a breath she'd been holding in, and subsequently lost all control. She pivoted slightly to rest on her back, and reached back for Poe's mane of curly, brown hair, snaking her fingers in it, and gripping for dear life. Poe grew harder as he watched Rey come beside him, because of his ministrations, but he didn't care about his own pleasure right now. All that mattered was Rey. She was here, with him, and she was turning into him, nestling into his chest, placing small kisses on his lips and neck, before immediately falling asleep.

* * *

Deep within the bowels of the Resistance base, Kylo Ren felt, through their Force bond, the reverberations of the intense pleasure that wracked Rey's body. Kylo wasn't surprised by Poe and Rey's coupling. Rather, it was the feeling that it caused within himself that surprised him. He was being foolish, he knew that. He was here to get the girl, and bring her to Snoke, end of story. But if that was truly the case, why did he spare her all those years ago? Why had he let her father take her away from Luke's academy? He huffed, chalking it up to a youthful misstep, one that could be remedied by bringing her now to Snoke to be bent to his will, or broken. The choice would be hers. That was all. Unable to sleep, Kylo Ren's thoughts raced until the sun rose.

* * *

 **AN: A moment I'm sure you've all been waiting for! I am a slow burn writer, I know. But I feel like it pays off in the long run, and it feels more believable. And hey, holla at ya girl if you're a big supporter of consent! I don't see that a whole lot in fanfic, so I try to include it.**

 **Thanks again for sharing your thoughts, everyone. I love the reviews, they really keep me going. They're like fuel for writing.**

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